THE PROPER AGGRESSIVENESS OF THE FULL-TIMERS
SERIES THREE
THE BUILDING UP OF THE ORGANIC SERVICE IN THE CHURCH LIFE
The Administration of the Church
Message Five
The Building Up of the Service of the Priesthood
Scripture Reading: 1 Pet. 2:5, 9; Heb. 7:5; Acts 1:8, 14; 1 Tim. 2:1-2, 4a; Matt. 28:19; 19:14; 9:37-38; 1 Cor. 3:6-9, 12, 16-17; Phil. 1:19-25; Rev. 21:18-21
I. The entire service of God’s people in the Old Testament was a priesthood; a priesthood denotes a body of priests built up together; our New Testament service in the church must be a kind of priesthood of the gospel—1 Pet. 2:5, 9; Heb. 7:5. (Talks Concerning the Church Services, ch. 6)
II. Serving in oneness as the holy and royal priesthood; 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 5 says, “You yourselves also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house into a holy priesthood”—v. 9: (CWWL, 1973-1974, vol. 2, “The Normal Way of Fruit-bearing and Shepherding for the Building Up of the Church”, ch. 7)
A. The true service that we render to the Lord is an offering by a built-up body of priests, and this built-up body is the spiritual house—vv. 5, 9. (CWWL, 1973-1974, vol. 2, “The Normal Way of Fruit-bearing and Shepherding for the Building Up of the Church”, ch. 7)
B. Genuine, proper service depends upon the building; if there is no building, there can be no house, and if there is no house, there can be no priesthood; the building is the house, and the house is the priesthood, the priestly body—vv. 5, 9. (CWWL, 1973-1974, vol. 2, “The Normal Way of Fruit-bearing and Shepherding for the Building Up of the Church”, ch. 7)
C. The first test of our service is whether we are serving as priests; the second test is whether we are serving as individual priests or as the “hood”, the corporate priesthood; our service is a priesthood—vv. 5, 9. (CWWL, 1973-1974, vol. 2, “The Normal Way of Fruit-bearing and Shepherding for the Building Up of the Church”, ch. 7)
D. Therefore, in our church service we must pay our full attention to the priesthood and the building; we must be the priests, and as the priests we must be built up together; if as thousands of persons we are built up as one man, this will be a shame to the enemy; it is against this built-up church that the gates of Hades cannot prevail—Matt. 16:18, John 17:6-24. (CWWL, 1973-1974, vol. 2, “The Normal Way of Fruit-bearing and Shepherding for the Building Up of the Church”, ch. 7)
E. If we are not built up, the gates of Hades will prevail against us; we need to deal with the self as the source of dissenting opinions that undermine the building up of the body—Matt. 16:18, 24. (CWWL, 1973-1974, vol. 2, “The Normal Way of Fruit-bearing and Shepherding for the Building Up of the Church”, ch. 7)
III. The principle of God’s work is to work from the center to the circumference; the principle of Jerusalem—working from the center to the circumference—Acts 1:8; 8:1: (CWWL, 1950-1951, vol. 2, “The Pure in Heart”, msg. 1; CWWN, vol. 57, “The Resumption of Watchman Nee’s Ministry”, ch. 11)
A. God set up Jerusalem as the center of the work; God’s work began from Jerusalem—Acts 1:2, 8:1.(CWWN, vol. 57, “The Resumption of Watchman Nee’s Ministry”, ch. 11)
B. The gospel spread from Jerusalem to Samaria, and then to the ends of the earth—Acts 1:8. (CWWN, vol. 57: The Resumption of Watchman Nee’s Ministry, ch. 5)
IV. We need to set up the service of the priesthood—1 Pet. 2:5, 9: (Instruction and Exhortation to the Trainees, ch. 2)
A. On the one hand, the accuracy in the leading of the church are the responsibilities of the elders; on the other hand, how living, rich, and strong the practical services in the church are depends entirely on the districts—Phil. 1:1; 1 Tim. 5:17; 4:6. (CWWL, 1968, vol. 2, ” The Motive, Coordination, and Function of the Lord’s Serving Ones,” ch. 9)
B. The basic principle of service for the elders is oversight, while the basic principle of service for the deacons is implementation—1 Pet. 5:2; Rom. 12:11. (CWWN, vol. 61: Matured Leadings in the Lord’s Recovery (1), msg. 21)
C. Learn to ask often, no one should make any decision alone, and we should not hold on to our own opinions and our own ways—cf. Psa. 19:12-13; Josh. 9:14b. (CWWL, 1950-1951, vol. 3, “Being Apt to Teach and Holding the Mystery of the Faith”, msg. 2)
D. As serving ones—servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God—we should be found faithful in our service—Col. 2:2; Eph. 3:4; Cor. 4:1-2; Luke 16:1-13; 2 Cor. 1:18-19; Matt. 24:45-51; 25:14-30. (2009 ITERO-Spring, msg. 7)
E. We must all go to the Lord, pray, and pick up this burden; we need to be interested in people and involved with people; we must love them; we must bear them as our burden—1 Tim. 2:1, 4. (The Normal Way of Fruit-bearing and Shepherding for the Building Up of the Church, ch. 1)
F. The deacons’ service: visitation, taking care of miscellaneous matters, such as business office responsibilities, clerical needs, accounting, record keeping, ushering, cleaning, set-up, electrical maintenance, purchasing, hospitality, transportation, repairs, and estate management. (Crucial Words of Leading in the Lord’s Recovery, Book 5: Concerning Various Aspects of Church Service, msg. 9)
V. We need to build up particular items of service—1 Tim. 2:1-2, 4a; Matt. 28:19; 19:14; 9:37-38: (Talks Concerning the Church Services, ch. 5)
A. In order for the whole Body to rise up to serve, all the brothers and sisters have to be busy with something; they need to get into some areas of service—Eph. 4:16; 1 Pet. 2:9. (CWWN, vol. 62: Matured Leadings in the Lord’s Recovery (2), msg. 33)
B. We need to build up six items of church service: (Talks Concerning the Church Services, ch. 5)
1. A proper study of the truth—2 Tim. 2:4, Eph. 4:13. (Talks Concerning the Church Services, ch. 5)
2. The growth in life—v. 13. (Talks Concerning the Church Services, ch. 5)
3. The preaching of the gospel—1 Tim. 2:1-2, 4a; Matt. 28:19. (Talks Concerning the Church Services, ch. 5)
4. The children’s work—Matt. 19:14. (Talks Concerning the Church Services, ch. 5)
5. The student work—9:37-38. (Talks Concerning the Church Services, ch. 5)
6. The community gospel work—Acts 5:42. (Talks Concerning the Church Services, ch. 5)
VI. To serve in the church is to work out the New Jerusalem—1 Cor. 3:6-9, 12, 16-17; Phil. 1:19-25; Rev. 21:18-21: (2014 FTTA-Spring, msg. 16)
A. The Lord is in our midst as the One who serves—Mark 10:45; Luke 22:26-27; 12:37. (2014 FTTA-Spring, msg. 16)
B. To serve in the church is to serve with a burden from the Lord; an open spirit to God is the condition for receiving His burdens—Matt. 5:3; Acts 22:8, 10: (2014 FTTA-Spring, msg. 16)
1. We must learn to receive burdens and release burdens through prayer in our inti-mate fellowship with the Lord—Luke 1:53; Psa. 27:4; Isa. 59:16. (2014 FTTA-Spring, msg. 16)
2. The revelations that the prophets received were the burdens that they received; with-out burden, there is no ministry of the word, no prophesying, for the building up of the church—Isa. 1:1; 2:1; 13:1; 15:1; Zech. 12:1; Mal. 1:1; Acts 6:4; 1 Cor. 14:3, 4b, 31. (2014 FTTA-Spring, msg. 16)
3. Our burden is to release God’s revelation to man, and God’s revelation is released through the words of revelation that God gives to us—2:11-16. (2014 FTTA-Spring, msg. 16)
4. When we minister the word of God, our concern must be whether we have God’s speaking, not the topic of our speaking; in order to have God’s speaking, the one who ministers the word must have a burden—Mal. 2:7. (2014 FTTA-Spring, msg. 16)
5. Those who minister the word must bear people’s condition before God, sense their condition, and know what God wants to speak—Exo. 28:29-30. (2014 FTTA-Spring, msg. 16)
6. The greatest problem in the administration of the church and in the ministry of the word is not having a burden from the Lord—2 Cor. 4:1. (2014 FTTA-Spring, msg. 16)
7. Without a burden, all our activity will be dead and ineffective; with a burden, we will be living and flourishing. (2014 FTTA-Spring, msg. 16)
8. Having a burden deals with us the most; if there is a burden, the self decreases and is dealt with, because there are things that our burden will not allow us to do, and there are areas that will require our being dealt with before we can release our burden—Heb. 12:11. (2014 FTTA-Spring, msg. 16)
9. If we serve according to obligation instead of serving with a burden, such service will cause us to lose the Lord’s presence—cf. Mal. 3:14; Deut. 4:25. (2014 FTTA-Spring, msg. 16)
10. Whenever our service becomes a matter of fulfilling an obligation, our service has already degraded. (2014 FTTA-Spring, msg. 16)
C. To serve in the church is to serve in the spirit and in coordination with the one accord for the building up of the Body of Christ—Rom. 7:6; Phil. 3:3; Ezek. 1:5-14; Acts 1:14; 2:46; 4:24; 5:12; 15:25: (2014 FTTA-Spring, msg. 16)
1. The greatest indication that we see the Body is that we cannot be independent; Paul’s reference to Sosthenes in 1 Corinthians 1:1 shows that Paul had a conscious-ness of the Body and a spirit of coordination. (2014 FTTA-Spring, msg. 16)
2. Because we do not have the consciousness that we need others and that others need us for our coordination in the Body, few among us have the spirit of a learner and the spirit of needing help—Matt. 5:3. (2014 FTTA-Spring, msg. 16)
3. To feel that we do not need one another and that we do not need to fellowship is the greatest form of pride; it is the most offensive thing to the Lord and to the Body; if we lack coordination with others, we will always criticize what they do—Eph. 5:21; Mark. 6:7; Phil. 2:2.
4. When we minister the word, fellowship, and pray, we should not criticize others; in particular, when we pray with others, we should avoid praying in a contradictory manner—Acts 1:14. (2014 FTTA-Spring, msg. 16)
5. We always need to have an attitude of respect, cooperation, and coordination with others; we should serve others according to our portion and should honor the por-tion of others, because both portions have been entrusted to us by the Lord; every-one should have the humility to not regard his portion more highly than another person’s portion—Phil. 2:3-4. (2014 FTTA-Spring, msg. 16)
6. We need to learn the lesson of being broken, accommodating others, and respecting others’ function; only in this way can we preserve the consciousness of the Body and produce the building among us—2 Cor. 11:28-29. (2014 FTTA-Spring, msg. 16)
7. We should all be of one soul to pray for, supply, and support whoever is speaking a message; if those who serve the Lord are continually disagreeing instead of being in one accord, the enemy, the saints, and even the children will know it—Eph. 1:3; Psa. 133. (2014 FTTA-Spring, msg. 16)
8. We should not give the saints the impression that our speaking is higher than that of others; instead, the saints should have the impression that our speaking is in harmony with the speaking of others—Matt. 18:19-20. (2014 FTTA-Spring, msg. 16)
9. When a brother speaks, some may be critical and say in their heart, “I know this already”; this kind of spirit is destructive to God’s work—Phil. 2:2. (2014 FTTA-Spring, msg. 16)
10. A reason for the lack of building among the serving ones is that they are short of love for one another; the Lord’s word to us and His prayer for us were to love one another—John 13:34-35; 15:12, 17. (2014 FTTA-Spring, msg. 16)
11. There should be an extraordinary love among the serving ones; such love for one another comes from our oneness with the Lord—John. 13:35; 1 John. 4:12. (2014 FTTA-Spring, msg. 16)
12. The elders and co-workers should shepherd one another and love one another to be a model of the Body life—21:15-17; 1 Pet. 1:22. (2014 FTTA-Spring, msg. 16)
13. We need to be blended together by praying in one accord with the exercise and release of our spirit—Matt. 18:19; Acts 1:14; Hymns, #846. (2014 FTTA-Spring, msg. 16)
D. To serve in the church is to enjoy Christ as righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit; “for he who serves Christ in this is well pleasing to God and approved by men”— Rom. 14:17-18. (2014 FTTA-Spring, msg. 16)
E. To serve in the church is to build the church by living a prophesying life to overflow with the flowing Triune God for the constituting of the church as the fullness of God— John 4:14b; 7:38-39; 1 Cor. 14:4b, 26; Eph. 3:19. (2014 FTTA-Spring, msg. 16)
F. To serve in the church is to shepherd people according to God—1 Pet. 5:1-6. (2014 FTTA-Spring, msg. 16)
G. To serve in the church is to be loved by God as a cheerful giver—2 Cor. 9:7. (2014 FTTA-Spring, msg. 16)