The way for us to build up the church as the organic Body of Christ is through prophesying. God desires to have a built-up church, and Christ promised, “I will build My church” (Matt. 16:18). How does Christ build up His church?
In Ephesians 4:15-16 we see that the whole Body grows by holding the Head and by receiving the growth from the Head, and the growth of the Body is the building up of the Body in love.
How does the Body grow? It is by all the members functioning in their measure for the building up. How do all the members function? All can prophesy for building up (1 Cor. 14:1)! The way God obtains His building is through all saints prophesying!
The entire Bible is a book of building
Throughout the Bible we see that God desires to have a building – Genesis 1 and 2 speak of some building materials (gold, bdellium, and onyx stones) and the last two chapters of Revelation show us a built up city (with gold, pearls, and precious stones).
Everything in between these ends is the history of God obtaining a building, a dwelling place, for God to dwell with man and be one with man.
Everything God is doing today is for this purpose; all God’s activities in the church and through the church today are part of God’s building work, His main work (Eph. 4:16).
God chose us, predestinated us, saved us, redeemed us, and He is transforming us, renewing us, and conforming us for Him to get His building!
Prophesying builds up the church
We need to have a clear vision of the fact that the way God can build up the church, the way God can obtain the building He is after, is through our prophesying. Prophesying is for the practical building up of the church as the organic Body of Christ (see 1 Cor. 14:3-5, 12, 26). When all the saints prophesy they don’t build up a congregation or an organization – they build up the church!
We need to have a change of mind from “going to the meeting to hear a message” to “bringing our top portion of Christ to the meeting to speak it for building up”. When we speak Christ, when we prophesy, we build up the church and God obtains His building.
Sadly to say, many in Christianity today still have the “one man speaking and the rest listening” system, which is NOT for the building up of the church but rather for the building up of a particular congregation or an organization.
The church as the living organism of the Triune God on earth can be built up in an organic way by all the saints practicing 1 Corinthians 14:26, through all the saints being perfected by the gifts in Eph. 4:11-15 to function in their measure for the building! We all as the one-talented members of the Body are being perfected in our prophesying to speak for building up of the Body!
We all can prophesy one by one!
We owe the Lord a thousand Hallelujah’s! and hundreds of inward, Thank You Lord! for His way revealed in the Bible and expounded through the ministry of brothers Watchman Nee and Witness Lee. Many of us were born in a denomination and we got used to “going to church” many times a week, where nothing is required of us to do but sit still until the service is over.
But the Bible shows us clearly many practical ways for us to practice the church life and to build up the Body. In the church meetings we can all prophesy one by one (1 Cor. 14:31) that all may learn and all may be encouraged.
As revealed in the God-ordained way to meet and to serve, it is practical for us to have district gatherings in each locality with 50 saints or so in them, so that we all can speak one by one. During the week, we all do our best to enjoy the Lord in His Word – and we have the Holy Word for Morning Revival to help us with this.
When we come to the Lord’s Day prophesying meeting, we all have something to speak – not in a pre-arranged order, but we spontaneously speak! We all can testify that it is so rich when we come to the prophesying meeting and all the saints share from their enjoyment of the Lord in His Word!
The need for all the saints to be able to prophesy
Prophesying is not something that comes natural, and we are not “inclined to prophesy” in our natural being. Every week we need to help one another and shepherd one another to prophesy, even encourage one another to spend time in the Word and compose something to speak for building up!
We need to help the saints to arrive at the goal of the practice of the church life according to the way it was ordained by God – prophesying in the meetings for the building up of the Body!
The Lord’s supply is so rich among us when we all prophesy, and everyone is supplied, edified, and uplifted! Let us all take the way of prophesying for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ.
Lord, may we really see what is Your ordained way in the Bible for us to meet and build up the Body. Save us from being content to just regularly attending the meetings of the church. Lord Jesus, we want to be those who take Your way – daily enjoying You in the Word, and preparing something every week to prophesy for building up. Lord, build up Your church through all the saints prophesying! Gain Your building!
References and Further Reading
- Sharing inspired from, The Riches and Fullness of Christ and the Advanced Recovery of the Lord Today (by Witness Lee, pages 67-69), and 1 Corinthians 14, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Taking the Lead as Elders and Responsible Ones, week 4.
- Hymns on this topic:
# Love is the most excellent way / And prophesying is the excelling gift.
# But holding to truth in love / We may grow up in all things / Into Him who is the Head.
# Within those whom You’d call / Put such a restless caring / For building to give all — / These times are for preparing;
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