The Gifted Members Perfect the Saints so that the Perfected Saints build up the Body

The gifted members of the Body perfect the saints so that the perfected saints would build up the Body of Christ.

The way the church is built up intrinsically is through the function of all the perfected members of the Body of Christ; the Lord has given some gifts to the Body for the perfecting of the saints unto the work of the ministry, unto the building up of the Body of Christ.

Hallelujah, we are members of the Body and we can be perfected so that we may function in our measure for the building up of the church as the organism of the Triune God!

This week in our morning revival we come to the topic of, The Intrinsic Building Up of the Church for Its Organic Function.

The church is not a physical building but the Body of Christ, an organic matter; a physical building is built up by putting some materials together and joining them with different kind of things, but an organic building is built up in life.

The best example of how the church is built up is our body, our human body.

When we are born, we are a baby, and we can’t do anything like speaking, walking, or doing this or that; however, the more we eat and drink, the more we grow to become grown-up men and women who can do a lot of things.

Today the building up of the church is the growth of the church; as the church grows bit by bit, the church is built up in a gradual way.

According to Eph. 4:16, the Body grows up gradually and is built up in love; the building up of the church is the growth of the church, and we grow in life by eating and drinking day by day.

The parents of little children know that, if their children eat and drink properly, they will grow up and have their functions manifested, and it is the growth in life that allows the children to manifest their functions.

Human life is wonderful, but the divine life is even more wonderful, for it is by our enjoying Christ, our eating and drinking Christ, that we gradually grow in life, and this growth is the building up of the Body of Christ, which is the intrinsic building up of the church.

In Matt. 16:18 the Lord Jesus said that He will build His church; however, He didn’t say how will He build up the church.

When we come to the Epistles, especially in the epistles of Paul, we see how the church is built up; in particular, Romans, 1 Corinthians, Ephesians, and Colossians speak of the building up of the church.

In Eph. 4:11-16 we see how the church is being built up; it is by the perfecting of the saints so that they would build up the Body of Christ directly.

The Lord as the Head of the Body has given some gifts to the Body, and these gifts are to perfect the many members in the Body so that the perfected members would function for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ.

We as the saints in the church life, the many members of the Body of Christ, need to be perfected so that we may function in our measure in a perfected way so that we may build up the Body of Christ directly.

The Church is Intrinsically Built up through all the Perfected Members of the Body – we need to be Willing to be Perfected

How is the church built up? Intrinsically and organically, how is the church as the Body of Christ being built up?

It is not through the “big gifts” given to the Body who function in such a great way that everyone is built up; rather, according to Eph. 4:11-12, it is the perfected members of the Body that build up the church directly.

For us to be perfected is for us to be equipped and supplied so that we may function in our measure.

We need to be willing to be perfected by the gifted members so that we may be equipped with all the riches of Christ to grow in life so that our organic capacity and functions can be manifested, and then we can function in our measure in the Body of Christ.

Without all the members of the Body of Christ being perfected, there is no way for the Body of Christ to be built up.

We may be perfected in a general way by being in the meetings of the church, but there needs to be an adequate perfecting and training in a particular way of the members of the Body by the gifted members so that they would function for the building up of the Body.

We as saints in the church life need to be perfected so that we may build up the church.

The gifts given by the Lord, the Head of the Body, are particular, each one doing a particular thing; we need to be perfected by the gifts so that we may become perfected members of the Body who function to build up the church.

The need for the perfecting of the Lord’s saints has not yet been fulfilled.

Where are the apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds and teachers, the gifts given by the Head for the perfecting of the saints?

There may be a certain amount of perfecting done by the elders and the shepherd-teachers, but this is only in part, not in a particular way.

For example, when a student goes to college, he must study many courses before he graduates; similarly, in the church life, we need the perfecting by the apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds and teachers, so that we may be perfected and build up the church.

We all need to cooperate with the Lord for the fulfilment of His word in Eph. 4:11-17.

In the church life, we have received some degree of perfecting, but we need some specific perfecting by the gifted members, so that we may become perfected members of the Body who function in their measure for the building up of the Body.

In Eph. 4:8-10 we see how the Lord descended and ascended, and through this process, He produced some gifts and gave them to the church. He first descended through incarnation, then He accomplished redemption and further descended into Hades; after this, He resurrected and then ascended to the height, and in this way, He gained a group of people.

Through the Lord’s redemption, we have been saved, redeemed, and we have our sins forgiven; through His resurrection, we have been enlivened and regenerated with the divine life.

Furthermore, in His ascension, the Lord ascended to the height and led us captive; we were originally taken captive by Satan, and the Lord in His ascension has captured us back and led us in a train of vanquished foes, presenting us to the Father and giving us as a gift to the Father.

The Father was very happy with this gift, and He gave us back to Christ as a gift, and Christ gave us a gift to the church, the Body of Christ.

Each one of us is a gift to the church; each one is at least a one-talented person, and we are gifts to the church.

In particular, Christ gave some gifts to the Body for the perfecting of the saints unto the work of the ministry, unto the building up of the Body of Christ.

We need to be open and willing to be perfected by the gifted members of the Body so that we may function in our measure as perfected saints for the building up of the church.

Thank You, Lord, for leading us as a train of vanquished foes in ascension to give us as gifts to the Father, who gave us back to You, and You made us gifts to the church! Hallelujah, every believer in Christ is a gift to the Body and can function to build up the church as the Body of Christ directly! Amen, Lord, we open to You and to the perfecting of the gifted members in the Body so that we may be the perfected members of the Body who build up the church. We open to the perfecting of the gifted members so that we may do the work of the ministry and build up the Body of Christ. Amen, Lord, may all the saints be willing and open to be perfected so that they may function in their measure for the building up of the church, Your organic Body!

How the Gifted Members Perfect the Saints so that the Perfected Saints would do the Work of the Ministry to Build up the Church

It is quite amazing to see what Eph. 4:8-11 speaks about, for here we are told that Christ as the ascended Head of the Body has given some gifts to the Body for the perfecting of the saints so that the perfected saints would build up the church.

Christ, the ascended Head, has given some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, and some as shepherds and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints in the local churches (1 Cor. 12:28; Acts 13:1).

These four categories of gits were given by the Head to His Body for a particular purpose; they are not given to function in a greater measure than all and thus build up the Body – they are here to perfect the saints.

The gifted members perfect the saints by equipping them and supplying the functions, making them be capable and sufficient to do what the gifted members do, yet in a smaller measure, for the building up of the church.

The apostles, prophets, evangelists, and shepherds and teachers were given by the Head to perfect the saints by equipping them with what they need and by supplying their function to do the work of the ministry.

The work of the ministry equals the building up of the Body of Christ; these two matters are in apposition in Eph. 4:11-12.

If we as the many saints in the church life, the one-talented members of the Body of Christ, would be open and willing to be perfected by the gifted members, we can do the work of an apostle, a prophet, an evangelist, and a shepherd and a teacher, and this would be for the building up of the Body.

May the Lord change our concept and view concerning the gifted members so that we may realize that they are here not to over function and thus replace our function but rather, they are here to perfect us so that we may function for the building up of the church!

An apostle is a sent one to speak the word of God, teach the truth, and establish churches.

We all need to be perfected to be the sent ones who speak the word of God, teach the truth, and establish the churches, according to our measure and portion in the Body.

A prophet is one who speaks for God, speaks God forth, and speaks God into people; we need to be perfected to speak for God, speak God forth, and speak God into people according to our measure.

Evangelists are those who are full of the gospel fire and the gospel spirit and who can speak the gospel to others for their salvation.

We need to be perfected to preach the gospel, exercising our spirit to be full of the fire of the gospel, and get people saved; this is to be done in our measure, for the building up of the Body.

Shepherds and teachers are those who cherish and nourish the saints for their growth in life and being perfected to function in the Body.

We need to be perfected by the shepherds and teachers to cherish the saints, nourish them, and perfect them, equipping them with the truth so that they would function in their measure.

Through the specific perfected of the gifted saints, we can all do what they do, yet in our measure and according to our portion, and as we function as perfected members of the Body, we do the work of the ministry unto the building up of the Body of Christ.

This means that we can be the sent ones to speak the word of God and teach the truth. We can preach the gospel to save sinners and make them children of God.

We can be those who continue the work of the ministry by cherishing and nourishing the new believers, mainly by visiting them in their home, to help them grow in life and be raised up.

We can then perfect the new believers to function by speaking for the Lord in the meeting, and we ourselves can speak for the Lord, speaking the Lord forth in the meetings of the church for the building up of the Body of Christ. Amen!

Lord Jesus, we give ourselves to You in the Body to be perfected by the gifted members so that we may do the work of the ministry for the building up of the church! Amen, Lord, may we be those who are sent by You to speak the word of God and teach the truth. Perfect us through the gifted members to be those who preach the gospel and save sinners to make them children of God. May we be the perfected members of the Body who shepherd and teach the new ones to cause them to grow in life and function in the meetings of the church. Amen, Lord, perfect us in a specific way by the gifted members so that we may prophesy in the meetings of the church to speak Christ to others for the building up of the Body! Do it, Lord! May the gifted members function to perfect the saints so that the perfected saints do the work of the ministry for the building up of the church!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by the brothers for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1989, vol. 4, “The Organic Building Up of the Church as the Body of Christ to Be the Organism of the Processed and Dispensing Triune God,” ch. 3, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Intrinsic and Organic Building up of the Church as the Body of Christ (2021 International Chinese-Speaking Conference), week 3, The Intrinsic Building Up of the Church for Its Organic Function.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – All the saints of Christ are / Members every one; / All coordinating / Into oneness come. / Though the gifts are many, / Yet the Spirit one; / Many too the functions, / But one Lord, the Son. (Hymns #854)
  – 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)
  – The Lord gave gifts to the churches, / Precious saints who love the Lord. / First apostles and prophets, / Speaking forth Christ as the word! / Then He gave some gifts as evangelists, / Who proclaim the gospel of Christ! / There are shepherd-teachers, feeding the saints. / But Lord, who am I? / Lord, I’m ready and willing to be perfected by You, / Through the saints all around me, to build Your Body too! (Song on, Lord, I’m Ready and Willing to be Perfected)