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.

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:

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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:

A. God set up Jerusalem as the center of the work; God’s work began from Jerusalem—Acts 1:2, 8:1.

B. The gospel spread from Jerusalem to Samaria, and then to the ends of the earth—Acts 1:8.

IV. We need to set up the service of the priesthood—1 Pet. 2:5, 9:

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

V. We need to build up particular items of service—1 Tim. 2:1-2, 4a; Matt. 28:19; 19:14; 9:37-38:

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.

B. We need to build up six items of church service:

1. A proper study of the truth—2 Tim. 2:4, Eph. 4:13.

2. The growth in life—v. 13.

3. The preaching of the gospel—1 Tim. 2:1-2, 4a; Matt. 28:19.

4. The children’s work—Matt. 19:14.

5. The student work—9:37-38.

6. The community gospel work—Acts 5:42.

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:

A. The Lord is in our midst as the One who serves—Mark 10:45; Luke 22:26-27; 12:37.

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:

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

7. Without a burden, all our activity will be dead and ineffective; with a burden, we will be living and flourishing.

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.

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.

10. Whenever our service becomes a matter of fulfilling an obligation, our service has already degraded.

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:

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

F. To serve in the church is to shepherd people according to God—1 Pet. 5:1-6.

G. To serve in the church is to be loved by God as a cheerful giver—2 Cor. 9:7.

 

Ministry Excerpts:

THE SERVICE OF THE PRIESTHOOD

The Lord has definitely and clearly shown us in these days that our New Testament service in the church must be a kind of priesthood of the gospel. In the Bible there are two stages. The first stage is the Old Testament, and the second stage is the New Testament. Whatever is there in the Old Testament is a type of the better things to come (Heb. 7:19, 22; 8:6; 9:23). The better things to come are in the New Testament stage. If we look into the Old Testament service, the main thing that we find is the priesthood. The entire service of God’s people in the Old Testament was a priesthood. A priesthood denotes a body of priests built up together. There was no individual service, for all the priests served as a body. The high priest and the other priests were burdened and charged to carry out a certain part of their unique service. In the English language the word priesthood denotes two things. In 1 Peter 2:5 and 9 it means a body of priests, and in Hebrews 7:12 it refers to the priestly service. A group of priests were there to carry out the priestly service. (Talks Concerning the Church Services, ch. 6)

The Christian service is the service of the priests. We know that all the believers are priests and that the function, the duty, the responsibility, of the priests is to serve the Lord. The service of the priests in the Old Testament was not that of individual priests serving the Lord. All the priests serving the Lord need to be built up together as a body. The priestly service is not a service of individuals but a service of a corporate body. To serve the Lord, we need to be built up together with others as a corporate body. Peter told us that we will be the priesthood after we have been built up together as the spiritual house (1 Pet. 2:5).

Some may be concerned that they do not have a special gift or do not know how to serve the Lord. Those things do not matter. As long as we are in the reality of the Body, that is wonderful. We all need to be built up in the Body. If we become a built-up house, then we will be a serving priesthood, a serving priestly coordination. This is what we need, a coordination by building up. (To Serve in the Human Spirit, ch. 6)

SERVING IN ONENESS AS THE HOLY AND ROYAL PRIESTHOOD

The Priesthood Being the Built Spiritual House

It is not easy for Christians to understand what the real service is that we render to the Lord. The natural thought is that anything we do for the Lord is a service. The word service has even been damaged in Christianity today. People speak of the Lord’s Day morning meeting as a “service,” and in the evening they also have an “evening service.” What they mean by service is simply a Christian gathering. In the Bible, however, service has a much different meaning. The best portion to see the proper understanding of the service is in 1 Peter 2. Verse 5 says, “You yourselves also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house into a holy priesthood.” In the original Greek of the New Testament, there are two words translated as “priesthood” in English. One word is used in Hebrews 7, referring to the priestly service, the service of the priests (vv. 11, 12, 24). The other, used in 1 Peter 2:5 and 9, refers not to the priestly service but to the group of priests, the priestly body. The spiritual house in verse 5 is the priesthood, the priestly body, and this priesthood is the spiritual house.

Genuine, Proper Service Depending upon the Building

Both the spiritual house and the holy priesthood are being built up. Verse 5 continues, “To offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” To offer is to serve; the offering up of spiritual sacrifices is the real service. 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. By this we can see that the 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.

Today we speak of “service groups” in the church. This is a good term. In the biblical language, the service groups are the priesthood. “Service group” is simply a modern way to refer to the classical, or scriptural, term priesthood. The service of arranging chairs is a chair-arranging priesthood, and the cleaning service group is a cleaning priesthood. We also have the junior-high, nursery, and clerical priesthood. The word priesthood should remind us that our service groups are the building up of the priests. If we are not serving as priests in this way, what we have is not a service group. Those who arrange the chairs in the meeting hall are not merely chair arrangers; they are priests. This means that they not only arrange the chairs; they render a service to God. Chair arranging is not their business, duty, or service. Their service is something holy and spiritual. In itself, chair arranging is not holy or spiritual; it is not a service. Our chair arranging is different. It is a holy and spiritual service rendered to God.

Our Service Being a Priesthood

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. Those who arrange the chairs are priests, but this is not enough. They should serve not as individual priests but as the priesthood. Priests are many, but the priesthood is one and unique. In the service groups there is only one priesthood, which is composed of the many priests. This implies the building up. The genuine service in the church has the nature of being priestly and of being built up. If our service is not of this nature, it is not genuine; it is a counterfeit and an imitation. Our service is a priesthood.

Paying Full Attention to the Priesthood and the Building
in Our Church Service

We must keep the building of God as our standard. For almost two thousand years the Lord has not gained His building among the believers. Because of this, Satan can challenge Him and say, “Did You not say in Matthew 16:18 that You would build Your church and that the gates of Hades could not prevail against it? Where then is the builded church? I have prevailed to frustrate the building.” It is a shame to the Lord if we do not have the building among us. 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.

If we mean business to have a proper service group, we should go to the Lord to check whether or not we are priests, separated persons, holy and royal with a high standard. We are still on this earth, and most of us have a job in the secular world, teaching or working in an office. However, we must be holy and royal in order to tell out the virtues of the One who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light (1 Pet. 2:9). To tell out is to proclaim abroad, to declare, the virtues of Christ. If we are not holy and royal, we cannot proclaim abroad the virtues of Christ. We are not the proper priests; rather, we are merely common persons on the earth. In this case, what we do is not a service; it is only a kind of job or business. If we desire what we do in the church to be a service, we must first be priests. Then we must not serve in a separate way. We must be one with others.

Dealing with the Self as the Source of Dissenting Opinions that Undermine the Building up of the Body

If we are not built up, the gates of Hades will prevail against us. If even at this present time there is a lack of building, the enemy will prevail. This is why Satan is subtle to undermine the building through dissent and opinions. When I hear certain dear ones say, “There is no doubt that the Lord is blessing this church,” I am prepared for them to continue by saying, “but…” Then they will itemize all their dissenting opinions. They may say that the elders, the brothers, the sisters, and all the children are not good. The subtle enemy is very clever. He will often point out things that are true. However, something that is true may cheat us the most. The enemy uses these things to undermine the building, and when this happens, he is able to prevail against us. (CWWL, 1973-1974, vol. 2, “The Normal Way of Fruit-bearing and Shepherding for the Building Up of the Church”, ch. 7)

KEEPING THE PRINCIPLE OF JERUSALEM—WORKING FROM THE CENTER TO THE CIRCUMFERENCE

Today we need to consider afresh the principle of Jerusalem. God’s work began from Jerusalem (Acts 1:4, 8). The word of the Lord was that the gospel should spread from Jerusalem. In the Bible Jerusalem represents God’s work. God set up Jerusalem as the center of the work. In God’s eyes all the apostles were to remain in Jerusalem (Acts 1:4; 8:1, 14, 25). We will not take back a single word of what we have said in Hankow before. No doubt the church is local. But in God’s eyes there are centers in His work. What we spoke of in Hankow was the condition of the local churches when they are matured. The failure of our work in these years is that we pass on the authority to the local churches before they are matured. According to God’s order, there is first Jerusalem, and then the local churches. Our failure today lies in the fact that we have the local churches first without having a Jerusalem. The order of the Lord’s way is first Jerusalem, then Samaria, and then the uttermost part of the earth (Acts 1:8). Jerusalem came first, then came the local churches. In the past we did not see this. This is why we did not learn coordination even though we had so many small churches, and why the local churches became little kingdoms under the hands of one worker with two or three responsible brothers. The problem with the Lord’s testimony in the past is that we did not begin from Jerusalem.

Today we have to learn first to stand on the position of oneness and begin from Jerusalem. If we do not go back to the principle of Jerusalem, we will not have a proper way to go on. (CWWN, vol. 57, “The Resumption of Watchman Nee’s Ministry”, msg. 11)

SETTING UP THE SERVICE OF THE PRIESTHOOD

At Sinai the children of Israel received the design to build God’s dwelling place on the earth. They eventually built a house for God, which became the place for God to meet with His corporate Israel. This required much training. In addition to building a habitation for God, there was the need of the service of the priesthood to be set up to serve in the tabernacle. Because this priesthood required many things involving the offerings, the instructions found in Leviticus were given at Horeb, the mount of God. (CWWL, 1990, vol. 1, “Instruction and Exhortation to the Trainees”, ch. 2)

The Elders Administrating and Leading the Church,
and the Deacons Serving the Church

According to the Bible, the only two offices in a local church are the eldership and the deaconship (1 Tim. 3:1-2, 8; Titus 1:5). In addition to these two offices, there are gifts (1 Cor. 12:4-11; Rom. 12:6-8; cf. Matt. 25:14-15). A person who is not an elder or a deacon may have the gift of speaking the Lord1s word. He may be able to stand up in a meeting to minister the word. Another person may have the gift of healing or a portion in loving and caring for people. He may be able to extend hospitality to strangers with love so that when people come to his home they feel the warmth of the Lord1s presence. The Lord gives each member of His Body a gift.

The service in a church is based on these two aspects of office and gift. Regarding the aspect of office, there are elders and deacons in the church. The elders administrate and lead the church, and the deacons serve the church. The church in Taipei is a large church with many meeting halls and many districts. The meeting halls serve as intermediary units, whereas the actual service takes place in the districts. Therefore, the arrangement is for the deacons and the deaconesses to serve in the districts.

On the one hand, the strength in the administration of the church and 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. If the districts are weak and empty, the church will be weakened and might collapse. A district is an important unit. Thus, the arrangement of the serving ones in each district should be done carefully. The serving ones should have a certain amount of spiritual weight and a certain measure of the stature of Christ (1 Tim. 3:8-13).

Often we have only a superficial understanding of the words in the Bible. Therefore, our concept may be that elders are higher than deacons and that the deacons should obey the elders. Although it may not be wrong to say this, we need to be careful how we say it because the thought in the Bible is different from the concept of rank in the world. In the world the head of a department in the government is higher than the director of that department. However, the head of a department is lower than the president of the legislature. This kind of concept of higher and lower positions should never be present in the church.

Although the Bible says that the saints should obey the elders, who are the deputy authority in the church (Heb. 13:17), it also says that all the saints should be subject to one another (Eph. 5:21). The elders bear a greater portion of responsibility in the church. Nevertheless, the Lord said that whoever wants to be great among us should be a servant, and the one who leads should become like the one who serves (Matt. 20:25-27; Luke 22:26). The Lord’s concept is entirely different from the concept in the world. The thought in the Bible is that those who serve others are greater, not that those who are served are greater. A person is not greater because he is the one who is being served. Rather, he is greater because he serves others.

Is the nose greater than the eyes? On our face, it seems that the eyebrows are in the highest position, the eyes come next, and then the nose and lips follow. Actually, there is no sense of one organ being greater than another. The concept in the Bible is the same. With the serving ones in the church, there is no sense of one being great or small or high or low. The only distinction is in the functions of the serving ones. (CWWL, 1968, vol. 2, “The Motive, Coordination, and Function of the Lord’s Serving Ones”, msg. 9)

The Basic Principle of Service for the Elders Being Oversight, while the Basic Principle of Service for the Deacons Being Implementation

Tonight we will consider the responsibilities and services of the deacons. The work of the deacons is absolutely different from that of the elders. The elders oversee with the eyes; their main responsibility does not lie in doing the work themselves. However, the deacons have to work with their hands. They also must involve the brothers and sisters in the work. The word deacon is diakonos in Greek; it means a serving one. In English it is translated as servant, minister, or deacon. A deacon does not propose any plans to the brothers and sisters. The elders do the planning, while the deacons work together to carry out the assignment by taking the lead among the brothers. When a church is strong, the elders take care of the overseeing and the deacons take care of the execution. The deacons should work more than the saints. The basic principle of service for the elders is oversight, while the basic principle of service for the deacons is implementation. Hence, the deacons have to understand the elders. In other words, they have to understand God’s will through the elders. (CWWN, vol. 61, “Matured Leadings in the Lord’s Recovery (1)”, msg. 21)

Learning to Ask Often and Not Making any Decision Alone

Furthermore, all the saints in coordination must learn not to lightly make decisions on their own concerning matters about which they are not clear. The principle here is that no one should make any decision alone. Even if we are already clear, we still should ask and fellowship. Who should we ask? We should ask the elderly saints. For important matters we surely need to seek fellowship from others and find a way to solve the problem together before the Lord. The more we ask, the less likely we will be to make mistakes. In any case, it is better not to reach a decision by ourselves. In the church there are so many people and so many matters. Thus, it is not proper to make decisions on our own. Never think that it is a shame to ask others. Rather, humble yourself to be taught, and learn to ask often.

Not Having Our Own Opinion and Our Own Way

Another point is that we should not have our own opinion and our own way. We must learn to put aside our own opinions. All our opinions must be put forth in fellowship in the service meeting or in the elders’ meeting. If we know that our way is not good, we should not try to get others to accommodate us. We are all people of limitation, and what we know is limited. Hence, we should learn while doing. The extent of our awareness of church affairs also shows the extent of our learning and of our being restricted before God. We need to learn to speak accurately, to not spread abroad the matters discussed in the meetings, to ask more questions, and to make less decisions on our own. Moreover, we should not hold on to our own opinions and our own ways. We need to pay attention to and learn all these things. (CWWL, 1950-1951, vol. 3, “Being Apt to Teach and Holding the Mystery of the Faith”, msg. 2)

Learning to be Interested in People

After we have a thorough dealing with the Lord and pick up a burden, we must learn to be interested in people. Because of the fall, many of us are not interested in others. We consider that whether others go to heaven or to hell is their own business. We do not care whether others grow in life, and we feel that it is sufficient for us to care for our own spiritual welfare. However, the church service requires every one of us to be involved with others. We need an interest in the Lord’s people. We may illustrate this interest by the taste for certain foods. Many Chinese people are interested in Chinese cooking and have the taste to go to Chinatown. We, however, need to be interested in the Lord’s people. Every day the Lord’s people must be our “food” (John 4:31-34). Some older teenage sisters should say, “All the young girls between ten and fifteen years old in the church life are my food. I am interested in the young people to this extent.”

However, we must not be interested in people in a natural way. Some people were born with the inclination to talk and even gossip. That is not what it means to be interested in people in a proper way. Many young ones like to talk about marriage, and many older ones like to ask concerning each other’s children, grandchildren, and in-laws. We must forget about this kind of gossip. This is the natural, social way. Rather, we must be interested in people in the way of life. We should not care to ask about people’s marriage, in-laws, or other matters. We are interested only in life. We should pray concerning this, and some may need to fast in prayer. We may pray, “Lord, by my birth I love to talk to people in a natural way,” but others may need to pray, “Lord, I was born in a way that I do not like to talk to people. I love the brothers, and I have been in the church for ten years, but until today I still do not like to open myself to anyone.” We should all pray, “Lord, burden me. I want to be fully interested in and involved with all Your dear saints, not in a natural or social way but in the way of life. Lord, I am willing to pay any price, even at the cost of my life. I love these people, and I would die for them. I want to see them saved, grow in life, and become matured.”

Then we can pick up the burden for some specific persons. We should make a list of their names, always keep it in front of us, and pray for them one by one. A teenage sister may pray, “Lord, this one is still not saved. Lord, I will never be at peace until I see her saved. Lord, even for my sake You must save her.” We may be too spiritual and say, “Lord, this is not for my sake.” However, the Lord may say, “Because you have a genuine burden for this one, I will save her for your sake.” Eventually, the sister will see the little one be saved. After this she may say, “Lord, this little one is now saved, but she does not love You. I can never be satisfied with this. Do something in her so that she will love You, Lord, as I love You.” Again, the sister will see the Lord answer her prayer. Likewise, the older generation must be burdened and pray in the same way. We need to be interested in people and involved with people. Then we can pick up a burden. Many in the church need our shoulders to bear them and our breast to embrace them (Exo. 28:9-12, 15-21, 29). We must love them. When they fall, we should weep, and when they rise up, we should be joyful. We must bear them as our burden. Our service is not to arrange the chairs, do the cleaning, usher, or do clerical work. These are temporary matters as the means, instruments, and channels for us to take care of people. We must all go to the Lord, pray, and pick up this burden. (CWWL, 1973-1974, vol. 2, “The Normal Way of Fruit-bearing and Shepherding for the Building Up of the Church”, ch. 1)

The Deacons’ Service

Visitation

In addition to the elders’ leading, teaching, shepherding, and promoting, in a local church there is still a need for the deacons’ visitation. The needs in a local church are of various aspects. According to our experience, the greatest need is visitation. There are many names on our list, but less than half the saints come to the meetings regularly, because there is a lack in visitation.

Visitation is an upholding and support that can keep people in the church. Because we have a lack in our practice of visitation, many people slip through the cracks in our localities. We must raise up a sufficient number of saints in the local churches to take up the responsibility of visitation. These saints should know the truth, have some growth in life, love the brothers and sisters, and have a heart to serve the Lord. Such saints, whether they are brothers or sisters, should serve as deacons.

In the past we had the mistaken concept that we should not have too many deacons; thus, our need was not met. For this reason, we have added many saints to serve as deacons. We should charge these saints to take up the work of visitation. Visitation is a miniature of shepherding and teaching. In fact, visitation is shepherding.

According to our experience we need to carry this out in two ways. First, some older saints are retired and no longer work, and they do not have much responsibility at home because their children are all grown. If these saints have a heart, they can do two things. First, they can pray for the church regularly. The church needs such a group of older saints to pray whenever they have the time. Although they do not have the strength to go out, they can pray regularly at home. Sometimes three or five of them can come together and pray. We believe that the Lord hears their prayer, and the church indeed depends upon their prayer. This is something precious.

In addition, we can encourage the older saints to do some visitation. They may not be able to travel far, but they can take care of nearby brothers and sisters. In particular they can care for the saints before and after every meeting. We should help the older saints to participate in the work of visitation, but we do not need to give them the title of a deacon. Their physical strength may not be adequate, but they can still be in the coordination for visitation.

The second aspect, with regard to the older saints, is to appoint saints under sixty years of age, who have much growth in the truth and in life and who love the church, the Lord, and the saints, as deacons and entrust them with the responsibility of visitation. Sixty deacons is not too many for a church with one thousand saints. The deacons are the saints in a locality or in a meeting hall who have the growth and experience in life. It is better if more saints of this kind do the work of visitation.

Taking Care of Miscellaneous Matters

Besides visitation, there are still many other 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, which includes property, housing, and appliances and furniture. Almost every meeting hall has these miscellaneous items, and every item needs an experienced saint who has the energy and the physical capacity to be a deacon. Ushering needs a brother or a sister who is a deacon to bear this responsibility and to ask other saints to serve as ushers. When he asks other saints to serve, he should not approach the saints who take care of visitation. We hope that every saint will take up only one task, and no one will bear two tasks. We should not ask the saints who already have a task to serve in another task.

Similarly, we can entrust the task of cleaning to one or two deacons, who in turn can ask other saints to come to the meeting hall at an appointed time to clean. We hope also that the saints who take care of cleaning will not do other things. The same principle can be applied to each item. Besides the deacons who are responsible for visitation, there is still a need for a dozen more deacons to bear responsibility for these miscellaneous items. In this way almost all the saints can be utilized. If we are aggressive, every saint will have a function in the service.

We should not have only one group of saints who are always ushering in every meeting. Instead, we should use several groups of saints: one group for Lord’s Day, another group for Tuesday, and still another group for Thursday. Thus, many saints will be involved in serving as ushers, no one will be tired, and all the services will be evenly borne by the saints. The elders in each meeting hall should take care of making arrangements, because they take the lead and are familiar with the condition of each saint. It is the elders who should select appropriate saints to be deacons for visitation and also select the saints to be in charge of the miscellaneous items. Then the church will be on the right track. (CWWL, 1985, vol. 1, “Crucial Words of Leading in the Lord’s Recovery, Book 5: Concerning Various Aspects of Church Service”, msg. 9)

BASIC AND SUBSIDIARY ITEMS NEEDED FOR THE BUILDING UP
OF THE CHURCH

A Proper Study of the Truth, the Growth in Life,
and the Preaching of the Gospel

There are a number of items that are needed for the building up of the church. The first matter is to build up a proper study of the truth. When I came to this country, I was charged by the Lord to carry out His recovery here. This was altogether something new. My first burden was to release the truth, so I traveled. I did not have the time to do other things. Many saints were brought into the recovery through the truth. The truth is our foundation, but among us the truth has not been adequately built up. Even some of the denominations have built up a study of the truth of the Bible.

The second thing that needs to be built up is the growth in life. The preaching of the gospel is a third matter that must be raised up among us. The truth, the matter of life, and the gospel are three anchors that are basic for the building up of the church. If the church is not built up in the truth and in life and is not preaching the gospel to gain people, there is no future. The church is nothing without the truth, without life, and without the gospel. The eldership in each church is first responsible to build up a locality in truth, life, and the gospel. Through the preaching of the gospel, there is the spreading of the church as the kingdom of God.

The Children’s Work, the Student Work,
and the Community Gospel Work

There are a number of subsidiary things that are also needed, such as the children’s work. The children’s meeting must be built up. In addition, we must do a work among the elementary, junior high, high school, and college-age students. These four levels must be built up.

The third subsidiary item that needs building up is the gospel in the community. The community gospel is a particular item that we must build up. When I labored in the church in Chefoo from 1940 through 1943, the strongest item that was built up was the community gospel. There was no need for anyone to come and preach. It was done by the housewives. Whenever we held a conference, there was no need for the elders or the other saints to help the new converts because almost all the attendants were neighbors of the housewives who were sisters among us. There was a strong community work built up among the saints who were mainly housewives. Immediately after every conference meeting, the housewives would accompany the new converts home. During this two-mile walk home, which took about thirty-five minutes, there was no talk about anything else except the messages of the conference. The housewives took the opportunity that this long walk afforded to help the others. This became a custom among us.

WORKING OUT THE NEW JERUSALEM

As the One Who Serves

The three passages we have just read help us see how Christ served us in the past, still serves us in the present, and is going to serve us in the future.

Let us consider the first passage: “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). This verse mentions that the Son of Man came to serve everybody. Whoever comes to the Lord, the Lord always serves them. The Lord feeds the hungry; He heals the sick ones. Without regard to the time and place, the Lord always serves us. The highest service of the Lord was giving His life as a ransom for many. He gave His life to serve man. So many times, we are so eager to serve the Lord that we ignore the fact that our Lord went to the cross and gave His life to serve us. While we were yet sinners, He served us.

Let us consider the second passage: “But you shall not be so; but let the greatest among you become like the youngest, and the one who leads like the one who serves. For who is greater, the one who reclines at table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am in your midst as the one who serves” (Luke 22:26-27). The book of Mark concerns Christ serving the sinners. Here it concerns Christ serving His disciples. “I am in your midst as the one who serves.” We should remember that the Lord is among us to serve us. This is grace!

We still have the third passage: “Blessed are those slaves whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Truly I tell you that he will gird himself and will have them recline at table, and he will come to them and serve them” (Luke 12:37). This is too gracious! How can this be possible? However, the Lord said He will serve us again in the future. Once we were indebted to the Lord and received His grace freely. We will forever be indebted to the Lord and will forever enjoy His grace. (CWWN, vol. 17, “Notes on Scriptural Messages (1)”, The Lord’s Ministry)

Serving with a Burden

We have a good order in our service, but we are lacking in burden. Having a burden means that we have a goal that we must reach. If we have not reached our goal or are unable to produce the expected result, we should be concerned. If we are able to serve, even though there is no result, we do not have a burden. This attitude indicates a lack of burden. Our speaking should never fall into this. Hence, the brothers who minister the word must bear a heavy burden before the Lord, having no peace to rest or eat and even troubling others so that they also have no peace. This can be compared to the city of Jerusalem having no peace when the Lord Jesus was born (Matt. 2:1-18). Those who speak for the Lord must have a feeling to trouble the saints to the point that they have no peace inwardly. When they have no peace, we can have peace. The saints cannot love the world and love the Lord. They must not be lukewarm. Those who serve the Lord need to have this kind of burden.

The Greatest Problem in the Administration of the Church and the Ministry of the Word Being not Having a Burden

Many serve as employees in a big company. They work a fixed number of hours every day and simply do the tasks that are assigned to them. They do not make big mistakes and are not concerned whether the company makes a profit. They are employees without a burden; they serve without a burden. If we make no profit on the first day of our business, we should be concerned about our livelihood. If the serving brothers, whether they serve in the children’s work or the young people’s work, have this kind of consciousness, they will succeed. Complaining that we fail because we are weak shows that we lack a burden. Every serving one must be burdened to the extent that he feels responsible if the work does not succeed. He should be like a businessman who thinks of his business even in his sleep.

The greatest problem in the administration of the church and the ministry of the word is not having a burden or, we can say, not receiving a burden or not paying attention to a burden. It is possible for elders to administrate the church without a burden. Those who minister the word may also do so without a burden. The discharge of our burden when we minister the word does not depend on how well we speak. If our only desire is to speak well in order to touch people, our speaking will be without a burden. Likewise, an ability to administrate the church does not discharge one’s burden. It is not a matter of how well we can administrate but whether our administration is effective and can touch people. (CWWL, 1957, vol. 2, “The Administration of the Church and the Ministry of the Word”, msg. 2)

Seeking to do His Will in Everything and Waiting on Him in His Work until He Communicates His Burden to Us

Burdens are especially related to the work of God. Therefore, we must seek to do His will in everything and wait on Him in His work until He communicates His burden to us. His burden is the manifestation of His will. The burden we receive is the very will of God, and it is also the means by which God manifests His will. (CWWN, vol. 38, “General Messages (2)”, msg. 49)

One Accord

In the book of Acts the one hundred twenty prayed together in one mind, in the same mind, in the same will with the same purpose around and within the soul and the heart. Whenever we pray, we surely should exercise our spirit, but we also should be in the same mind and the same will with the same purpose around and within our soul and heart. This means that our entire being is involved. After the Lord’s ascension the one hundred twenty became the kind of persons who were in one mind, in one will, with one purpose around their soul and heart. For them to be in one accord meant that their entire beings were one. No other book of the Bible uses the word for one accord as much as Acts.

The one accord is the key and the life pulse of prayer, the Spirit, and the Word. You may pray much, seek the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and acquire a lot of knowledge from the Word, yet if you are short of the one accord, you cannot see the blessing. I saw people who were desperate in praying, in getting the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and in receiving the Word, yet they were dissenting among themselves. There was no one accord. (CWWL, 1986, vol. 1, “Elders’ Training, Book 7: One Accord for the Lord’s Move”, ch. 1)

A Prophesying Life

If we are going to prophesy, we need to live a prophesying life. First, we need to be revived every morning (Prov. 4:18; Lam. 3:22-24; Psa. 119:147-148). Proverbs 4:18 says, “The path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, / Which shines brighter and brighter until the full day.” The way of the righteous is like the dawn that becomes brighter and brighter until noontime. Every twenty-four hours there is a new start, a dawn, a rising sun. This is according to the natural law in God’s creation. We have to go along with this natural law. Every morning we have to rise early to contact the Lord, to call on Him, and to be revived by Him. In Lamentations 3:22-24 Jeremiah says that the Lord’s compassions are fresh and new every morning. His compassions are like the fresh dew in the morning. Every morning we must enjoy this fresh dew to have a new start, a morning revival. (CWWL, 1988, vol. 4, “The Excelling Gift for the Building Up of the Church”, ch. 2)

Shepherding According to God’s Likes and Dislikes

First Peter 5:2a says, “Shepherd the flock of God among you, overseeing not by way of compulsion, but willingly, according to God.” To shepherd according to God means according to God’s nature, desire, way, and glory, not according to man’s preference, interest, and purpose. The elders should not shepherd the flock according to their opinion, concepts, or likes or dislikes. Instead, they should shepherd according to God’s choice, desire, intention, and preference. The elders must shepherd the saints as the flock of God altogether according to God’s thought, feeling, will, and choice. They must shepherd according to God’s likes and dislikes. (Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 169)