Evening meeting, March 4, 1973, Richmond, Virginia. Ministry given by Brother Stephen Kaung.
[Opening worship indistinct.]
Thank God for another opportunity.
Now there were at Antioch, in the assembly which was there, prophets and teachers: Barnabas, and Simeon who was called Niger, and Lucius the Cyrenian, and Manaen, foster-brother of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.
And as they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, Separate Me now Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.
Then, having fasted and prayed, and having laid their hands on them, they let them go.
They therefore, having been sent forth by the Holy Spirit, went down.
And having announced the glad tidings to that city, and having made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, and Iconium, and Antioch,
establishing the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to abide in the faith, and that through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God.
And having chosen them elders in each assembly, having prayed with fasting, they committed them to the Lord on Whom they had believed.
And he remained two whole years in his own hired lodging, and received all who came to him,
preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, with all freedom, unhinderedly.
And He has given some apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some shepherds and teachers,
for the perfecting of the saints, with a view to the work of the ministry, with a view to the edifying of the body of Christ;
until we all arrive at the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, at the full-grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fullness of the Christ;
in order that we may be no longer babes, tossed and carried about by every wind of teaching, which is in the sleight of men, in unprincipled cunning, with a view to systematized error;
but, holding the truth in love, we may grow up to Him in all things, Who is the Head, the Christ:
from Whom the whole body, fitted together and connected by every joint of supply, according to the working in its measure of each one part, works for itself the increase of the body to the building up of itself in love.
That is all for tonight.
We mentioned in the past that our Lord Jesus released His life on the cross. His life is like new wine, and this life needs to be contained in a new wineskin, because you just cannot put this new wine into an old wineskin. It will break the old wineskin, and the wine will be wasted.
So, as the life of our Lord Jesus is being released, He is looking for a new wineskin. This new wineskin, which is to contain the new wine, is none other than the body of Christ—that is, the church. It is not Judaism. It is not any other “ism.” It is a living organism, the body of Christ.
Because this new vessel is an organic body, its history seems to follow the same order of principles as this human body of ours.
After a life comes into this world, it first goes through a period of childhood. As we say, our period of childhood is a most happy period, because during that period there is nothing but enjoyment—enjoying what our parents have prepared for us.
There is no problem, because every problem is taken care of by our parents. There is no responsibility, because our parents bear the whole responsibility. It is a time of real enjoyment, a happy time. Everyone who looks back to his or her childhood feels very happy about that time.
Then, after the period of childhood, one enters into the stage of adolescence. You find what a change it is. It becomes a most difficult period—difficult not only for oneself, but difficult for all the people around him.
It is a period of passion, of doubting, of searching, of conflict, of struggle, of trying to find a meaning in life. It is a most difficult period, and yet a most important time. Why? Because the future is actually determined by this period. It is the formative period.
Whether this life will blossom into manhood or womanhood, or whether it will be a failure—a total failure—depends very largely on this period of adolescence.
After that period, you enter into the last stage, adulthood, where you find there is a continuous growth into full maturity to fulfill the meaning of life. Now, this is roughly the growth of an organic life.
Now, the body of Christ, being an organic body, in a sense its growth is similar to the growth of our personal life. So, from that viewpoint, we said that you can read the book of Acts from that viewpoint.
The risen Lord continues to do and to teach on earth in and through this organic body of Christ. We will be very much interested—and we should be—to know how this body grows and matures, that it may be a fit vessel for this new life.
This body of Christ was born on the Day of Pentecost. I think everybody agrees to that. On the Day of Pentecost, the one hundred and twenty people who assembled in that upper room, praying with one accord, were suddenly baptized in the Holy Spirit into one body.
Then you find that the first five chapters in the book of Acts describe the happy childhood of this body of Christ. In those five chapters, you find nothing but real enjoyment in the Lord.
How these people were together, persevering in the teaching and fellowship of the apostles, in prayers, and in the breaking of bread. How they cared for one another, how they loved one another, and how the Lord added to them day by day. The power of the Lord was manifest in them. It was a happy time.
From Acts 6 to Acts 15, you find this body of Christ seems to enter into a period of difficulties. Many problems arose, and these problems needed to be solved. If they were not solved, then we do not know what would happen to this body.
It was the formative period of this body of Christ. Doubts, questions, problems—all things had to be settled. New things had to be revealed and understood. It entered into a great period of conflict.
So, thank God, during that period God raised up certain people and used them for the formation of this body of Christ according to the heavenly pattern. Altogether, we mentioned six of them:
When you come to the fifteenth chapter of the book of Acts, you can almost breathe a sigh of relief. The major problem concerning this new vessel, the body of Christ, had been solved.
It was not to be a part of Judaism. It was a new vessel, something completely new out of heaven—a fit vessel for the Master.
Then, from Acts 16 onward to Acts 28—and, as a matter of fact, it goes on and on, because everyone who studies the book of Acts knows that the book of Acts has no ending—it goes on until this body is fully grown. Then our Lord will come back to claim it as His bride.
For tonight, I would like to fellowship with you, dear brothers and sisters, in a very general way concerning the maturing of the body of Christ, because that is what these chapters really relate. Or we may put it another way: the building of the body of Christ.
The body of Christ is on earth. The body of Christ has taken a form, and now it is a matter of building it up so that it may enter into full maturity.
In the building up of this body of Christ, it seems as if one vessel was a very chosen vessel, and this vessel was the apostle Paul.
As a matter of fact, from Acts 1 to Acts 12, you see mainly the ministry of the apostle Peter. But after Acts 13 to Acts 28, you find that it is mainly a record of the ministry of the apostle Paul.
Here you find a new vessel has come into view, and Paul was a specially chosen vessel for the building of this body of Christ. He himself told us in 1 Corinthians 3 that he was a master builder, or a wise architect. Some people would rather call him a faithful foreman, because actually he was building under the Chief Architect, for Christ Himself is the Chief Architect.
Paul was actually serving under Christ like a foreman, but it is a matter of how you understand these terms. Anyway, you know that Paul himself said that he was a master builder. He was used by God in a very special way for the building of the body of Christ—that is, the church.
God’s calling is very wonderful. Why? Because Paul, so far as his earthly occupation was concerned—every Jewish boy, when he grew up, was trained not only with knowledge of all kinds, but every Jewish boy was trained with an occupation.
It so happened that Paul, while he was studying as a Pharisee and trained in the Word of God, was at the same time trained to be a tentmaker. As a tentmaker, he was to take materials, dye them, and then make them into tents.
That was Paul’s earthly occupation. In a very marvelous way, you find that there is a definite similarity between Paul’s earthly occupation and his heavenly occupation.
To maintain his livelihood, he made tents. What were tents for? They were for people to dwell and to live in. Then God called him to be the master builder, to build the tabernacle of God, to build the temple of God, for God to dwell with His own people.
It is most marvelous to see that even in choosing the earthly occupation, God had a hand in it. If you have ever read the book by our dear brother M. R. DeHaan, What Shall This Man Do?, I think you can realize from that book how, even in earthly occupation, God had a foreknowledge of everything.
Paul was a master builder, a wise architect. Why? Because when he built, he laid a good foundation. He said he had laid a good foundation, and this good foundation is none other—it cannot be other than—Christ Jesus Himself.
But it is important how we build upon it: whether we build with gold, silver, and precious stones, or whether we build with wood, hay, and stubble. On that day, everything will be manifested.
This man Paul was apprehended by God in a very special way. God shattered his Judaism completely. God delivered him completely out of the traditions of the fathers, to which he had been very firmly bound.
He was a free agent at last, and God was able to give him that heavenly vision. He was to know the mystery of the Christ, and he was faithful to what the Lord had revealed to him. Because of that, we find he became a chosen vessel for the building of the body of Christ.
It is very interesting to note that while God was using him in such a mighty way, if you inquire into his inward sentiment, you find that before he met the Lord, he was a Pharisee.
He was not only a Pharisee educated in and joined to the sect of the Pharisees, the strictest sect in Judaism. He was known as a son of Pharisees; his father was a Pharisee. He testified himself that he lived as a Pharisee.
He was the Pharisee—the great Pharisee. That was before he knew the Lord. He thought he was quite a big man in Judaism. He was far more advanced than his contemporaries. He had achieved a lot.
On the road to Damascus, that great Pharisee was written to the ground. He was reduced to nothing. He surrendered his life to the Lord, and then the Lord began to use him.
He began to preach the gospel, and many were saved. Many were helped. While God was using him in such a mighty way, you find his defense was, “I was in no way less than the greatest of the apostles.”
He was not behind any apostles of the first degree. You know, even among apostles there are different magnitudes. Not all apostles are of the same degree. Some apostles seem to have greater magnitude, like Peter and John. These people seemed to be of greater magnitude among the twelve apostles. Some of the apostles, we hardly hear about; they seem to be of a lesser degree.
But Paul himself, in his defense to the church in Corinth, said, “I am in no way behind the apostles of the first magnitude.” He was a great apostle, sent by God and used by God in a mighty way.
But as he continued on with the Lord, when he wrote Ephesians, you find in Ephesians 3:8, having been shown the mystery of Christ, he began to say that he was less than the least of all the saints.
The great apostle became less than the least of all the saints. He was not only the least of the saints, but even less than the least of the saints. Why? Because of the greatness of the revelation of God.
Finally, if you ask how he felt, he would tell you in 1 Timothy 1:15, “I am chief of sinners.” Now, that is the cycle. He began as a great Pharisee. He was called to be one of the greatest apostles. But as he knew the Lord more and more, he considered himself less than the least of the saints, and finally he could only say, “I am chief of sinners.”
It is a mercy of God. Brothers and sisters, anyone who is to be a chosen vessel for the building of the body of Christ must have this kind of inward sentiment in him.
As you read from Acts 13—well, actually you have to go back to Acts 13, because that is where it really started—there in the church in Antioch, there were five prophets and teachers.
These five prophets and teachers served the church in Antioch locally. As they ministered unto the Lord, they were fasting and praying. Before they ministered to the church, they first ministered to the Lord together in prayer and fasting. In other words, they were seeking the Lord’s mind.
As they were waiting before the Lord, the Holy Spirit said, “Separate for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”
After they realized that the Holy Spirit had separated these two among them to be sent out for a special work, they laid hands on them, committed them to the Lord, and they were sent out by the Holy Spirit.
As they were sent out, they were apostles, because from then on Barnabas and Paul were called apostles. Why? Because they were sent out for a special work.
They were not sent out by men. They were not even sent out by the church in Antioch. They were not even sent out by their fellow workers. They were sent out by the Holy Spirit.
Their fellow workers identified themselves with them. The church backed them up. But it was God, it was the Lord Himself, Who sent them out. They went out as apostles.
Now, what was their work? Reading the book of Acts from Acts 13 to Acts 28, we can see very clearly that altogether Paul seems to have made four different trips. We call them missionary trips.
Actually, the word missionary is the modern word for the ancient word apostle, because missionary means one who is sent out. So altogether, we find that Paul went out on four different trips.
During his first trip, he went out with Barnabas. They left Antioch. They first went to Cyprus, an island off the coast, because Cyprus was the native country of Barnabas.
After they visited Cyprus, they returned to the mainland. They came to Pisidia and to Antioch. God began to work, and because of persecution, they proceeded on to Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe.
In every place they went, they preached the gospel, and a number of people came to the Lord. After they had covered this area, they came back and revisited these places. They visited the brothers and sisters, those who had been saved, and encouraged them.
In other words, they were not just going out, preaching the gospel, and getting people saved—people were born—and then leaving them. No. They came back and nurtured them and established them in the Lord, exhorting and encouraging them.
Then they appointed elders. In other words, they established churches in all these places. Then they went back to Antioch. That was the first trip.
During the second trip, of course, Paul and Barnabas were separated for certain reasons. But here you find Paul went out with Silas and Timothy, and they revisited these places: Antioch of Pisidia, Iconium, Lystra, Derbe, and these places.
After they had passed through the Phrygian and Galatian country, Paul had the desire to go to Asia. That was on his left. He was facing west, and on the left was the great Roman province of Asia—very densely populated, a very important province.
Paul had the desire of going to Asia, but the Spirit of Christ did not permit them to go. Then he looked to the north, toward the Roman province of Bithynia, another important province, and he thought of going there. But the Holy Spirit forbade them to go.
So he was not allowed to go to the south nor to the north. He traveled on toward the west until he came to Troas. Troas was a city by the Aegean Sea. He came to the seacoast, to the seashore. Where should they go?
It was at that moment, you remember, that God gave Paul a vision. A Macedonian was calling for him: “Come and help us.”
The next morning, when Paul shared his vision with the brothers, they all decided that it was the Lord. The Lord was calling them to cross the Aegean into Europe. This was the first time that the gospel passed from Asia to Europe.
Now, sometimes we think that the gospel began in Europe, but as a matter of history, you find that it began in Asia. But here was the first time that the gospel was preached in Europe.
They crossed the Aegean and came to Philippi. From Philippi they went on to Thessalonica, and from there they went on to Athens and on to Corinth.
During the second missionary trip, we find Corinth became, as it were, the central work of Paul.
Now, what were they doing? Wherever they went, they preached the gospel. But was that all? No. They established the believers. They established churches in all these places.
They went back to Antioch. Then, the third time, Paul again came out. After he had passed through all these places—the Phrygian and Galatian country—he was at this time led of God into Asia, the province of Asia.
He came to Ephesus, and he was there for three years. That became the center of his labor until all Asia heard the gospel. What were they doing there? Not only preaching the gospel and building up the saints, but everywhere they were, they established the churches.
Of course, after that he came to Jerusalem, and then he was taken. The fourth missionary trip was actually a compulsory trip, because they brought him to Rome.
But thank God, when we come to the end of the book of Acts, we find that he was given liberty to rent his own house, and there he preached the kingdom of God to everyone who came to see him, really unhinderedly.
The gospel had come to the end of the world, because Rome at that time was the center of the world, and we may say it was also the end of the world.
Now, that was the history. Why does the Holy Spirit relate this historical fact to us? As we read the work of Paul, the ministry of Paul, in all these various places, brothers and sisters, do you see a divine principle behind the work?
How do you build the body of Christ? I think people today are very much interested in this matter. Especially in the last five years, everywhere you go, you find God’s people talking about the body of Christ.
Five years ago, you hardly heard even the term “the body of Christ.” Some people might write about it, but it was very rare. But in the last five years, not only those who really love the Lord and are really searching and seeking the Lord’s best, but even people who have a very liberal concept of Christ in Christianity as a whole, are also talking about the body of Christ.
Everybody seems to be interested in the body of Christ. How is this body of Christ built? How do you build this body of Christ? How does this body of Christ grow into full growth?
I think this is what Acts 13 through Acts 28 is trying to tell us. It is not just Paul traveling here and there. It is not just Paul preaching the gospel wherever he goes. You find that the preaching of the gospel is for a purpose.
After he had preached the gospel, you find invariably that something was established. That which was established was, in every place where he went, a testimony—an assembly in that place, a lampstand.
That is what is here, brothers.
Let me tell you a story. I do not know whether you know our dear Brother Bakht Singh. There are some books written by him on the table. I know him personally; we are good friends.
Dear Brother Bakht Singh of India illustrates something here. He came from a pretty wealthy family. His father was an industrialist. He was a Sikh, and his mother was a most devoted Sikh believer. They had their own religion.
When our brother was studying in India, he studied in a mission school, but he would have nothing to do with Christ. After he finished his studies, he wanted to go to England for further education.
His mother helped him to get his father’s permission to send him to England to study on one condition: that he would not change his religion. So he promised, “I will never change my religion.”
He went to England. After he arrived in England, he met some of his friends from India, and his friends began to become English, you know. He tried to be as English as possible. Everything that an Englishman could do, he would do, just to prove that he was not in any sense inferior.
Once there was a trip to Canada, and he joined that trip. One day on the boat, there was a Sunday service held in the first-class lounge. He wanted to go to the first-class lounge, so he went to that service.
When he went to that service, someone was preaching there, but he said he could not remember anything of it. He did not hear anything. But after the sermon was preached, the preacher asked everybody to kneel down and pray.
Everybody around him knelt down, and he was the only one sitting there. He was very, very embarrassed. He tried to get out, but he could not because he was surrounded.
At that moment, he remembered that when he was a child, his mother used to take him to visit all kinds of temples, even temples belonging to other religions, not Sikh religions. His mother always told him, “When you go to any temple, you have to show respect. Even if you are not a follower, you have to show respect.”
So that word came to him: “I have to show respect. Even though I do not know this God, I must show respect.” So he kneeled. While he knelt down, something happened. The presence of God was so living and real. He did not understand it. That was all.
After he arrived in Canada, one day his friend asked him, “What gift do you want me to give you?” He said, “A Bible.” He began to read.
When he came to John 3:16, he was found by the Lord. He was saved in Canada. After he was saved, he continued his studies. He was a mechanical engineer.
He was very critical of the missionaries because he felt that the missionaries in India lived such a high-class life. So he was very critical of these missionaries, and he determined that he would contribute whatever money he had to feed the poor.
But one day the Lord spoke to him and said, “How about you?” He said, “Lord, I will go back and earn money and announce the book.” But the Lord said, “Enough.” So he went back, talking to anybody who would like to talk with him.
His only meal, oftentimes, was tea when people invited him to have some tea. That was how he first lived. The Lord began to use him. Many, many got saved. He traveled all around India, and many people got saved.
But after he had been busily preaching the gospel and many had been saved, he had a problem. While he was speaking in a certain city, many people got saved; but the second time he went there, most of them had disappeared.
He was troubled. Children were born, but who would take care of them? The so-called churches were so weak that they could not take care of these newborn ones. He did not know what to do.
One day he received a letter from a dear sister, an Englishwoman whom I knew very well. This Englishwoman wrote to him and said, “If you need rest, you can come to my home.”
The Lord spoke to Bakht Singh. He was so busy that he really felt he needed some quiet time. The Lord said, “You go to that widow,” because this sister was an elderly widow. So he went there.
I was told that for several months—perhaps two months—four of them came together every morning, doing nothing but praying, asking the Lord to show them what He wanted to do and how this problem could be solved.
After they had prayed for a period, the Lord again revealed to Brother Bakht Singh what they should do. So he went down to Madras and started his life work. Today, dear brothers and sisters, hundreds and hundreds of churches throughout India and Pakistan follow on from that work.
I mention it just to point out one thing. I do believe this is a problem that many of God’s best servants are facing. They faithfully serve the Lord, going here and there, getting many souls saved.
Where do you put them? How do you take care of them? Is this the way to build the body of Christ?
What is the way to build the body? Probably, we think only in terms of the body of Christ in the universal sense. Thank God, the body of Christ is universal. Christ is the Head. The body of Christ is everywhere. It is universal; that is true.
But how do you build the universal church? How do you build it?
In the book of Acts, it shows a principle. Paul all the time was not disobedient to the heavenly vision. He saw the body of Christ, and he was working for the building of the body of Christ. But in what way? How do you build the body of Christ?
You build the body of Christ locally. In other words, the body of Christ universal should be built through the body of Christ locally.
After he preached the gospel, he did not leave them. He encouraged them, established them, and an assembly—a church—was established, a testimony in that locality. He went to another place, and another church was established.
It is not just evangelism. It is evangelism with the establishing of local churches: the church in Antioch, the church in Lystra, the church in Derbe, the church in Iconium, the church in Thessalonica, the church in Athens, the church in Corinth, the church in Ephesus, and the church in Rome.
You find here and there, everywhere, local churches—the local expression of the body of Christ universal—appearing here and there.
Are all these churches different, being churches of God? No. They are the local expression of the church. In building the local church, you build the church there. In building the body of Christ in a locality, then the body of Christ in the universal sense is being built.
That is the only practical way of building the body.
Let me use another illustration. When you open the book of Revelation, I think everybody is interested in the end. I do not know how you read a book, but when I read a book, I usually open the first two or three pages, and then I go to the last two or three pages. I am so anxious to know what will be the end, because the end is really the goal.
Brothers and sisters, when you open the book of Revelation, if you open the first three chapters and then go to the last three chapters, what do you see there?
In the first three chapters, you find the seven churches in Asia. In the last two chapters, you find the New Jerusalem.
In other words, how is New Jerusalem built? The New Jerusalem that appears at the end as the consummation of God’s work is actually built in Revelation 2 and 3.
It is because the Lord is building the church locally in these seven churches that you find eventually and ultimately the church universal, as represented by New Jerusalem, comes into view.
That is the way. We are all interested in New Jerusalem. Why? Because it is so perfect, full of the glory of God.
Everyone who reads Revelation 2 and 3 feels a little bit downhearted. Of the seven churches, only one church—the church in Philadelphia—seems to have all praise and no rebuke. But even so, there is a word: “Hold fast that which thou hast, that no one take thy crown.”
Brothers and sisters, the Lord is dealing with the church locally in these places. Why? He is dealing with the church locally in order that He may perfect the church universal.
Today, it is the church local that the Lord is working on. If you do not have the church local today, you will not get the church universal tomorrow.
Otherwise, brothers and sisters, when we say we are building the church of God, it is so vague, so impractical. How do you build the church? How do you build the body of Christ?
It is only when you come down to the place where you are that you begin to see that it is really building, not a castle in the air.
It is difficult work, not all pleasant. Many problems have to be faced. But this is where the Lord is working, here.
Brothers and sisters, what is the Lord really doing today? The Lord said, “I will build My church upon this rock, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” But how is He building? Where is He building? What is He doing?
It is in all these places: a lampstand here, a lampstand there. The building is very local and practical.
That is, I believe, what the last part of the book of Acts is trying to show us: how the body of Christ is built.
To complete this, you come to Ephesians 4. In Ephesians 4, you find that for the building of the body of Christ, the risen Lord gave to the church some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers.
Now, these four classes of people are God’s gifts to the church. Notice this: this is different from 1 Corinthians 12, and it is different from Romans 12. Why? Because in Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12, these are spiritual gifts—gifts according to grace.
But in Ephesians 4, these four kinds of people are gifts. The people are gifts. God gave some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers. God gave these four classes of people to the church as gifts.
Now, what is their work? Their work is for the perfecting of the saints. Their work is to perfect the saints, in one way or another, with a view to the work of the ministry.
These men are given to the church to perfect the saints. In other words, to help them grow in Christ, to help them know the Lord more, to help them have more of the life of Christ, to help them develop their gifts, and to help them fulfill their functions.
They are to stimulate, to activate, all the saints, that these saints may be strong in spirit, in life, and in function. That is the work of the four classes of people: for the perfecting of the saints.
What is the purpose for the perfecting of the saints? When the saints are perfected, what will happen? There is a purpose: the work of the ministry.
Now, brothers and sisters, we often think of ministry in terms of these four kinds of people. We think that apostles, prophets, teachers, evangelists, and pastors are in the ministry. If we get into that, we get into ministry.
Their ministry is a special ministry. But the ministry in the Bible is the ministry of the body. That is the ministry.
You often hear people talk about body ministry. Now, what is body ministry? When people talk about body ministry, they are thinking more in terms of, “I am ministering to the body.” No. Body ministry is the body ministering itself. That is body ministry.
These people are given by God to activate, to reinforce, and to help build up the spiritual life of all the saints. As the saints are growing stronger and healthier in the Lord, you find the saints begin to do the work of the ministry.
The ministry here is the ministry of the body, not the ministry of these four kinds of people.
I am very happy when I read Dr. Lightfoot’s note. He was an Anglican bishop, and when he commented on this verse, he was such a father, and he was like a man of God. When he commented on this verse, he said, “The ministry here is the body ministry; it is the ministry of the body.”
We do not see the body. Why? Because all these saints—these certain kinds of people—are ministering to us, and we are just there as the audience.
But the effect of these special ministries upon the saints should produce body. They are not to substitute for body ministry, to replace body ministry, or to monopolize body ministry. They are to stimulate, encourage, and bring forth the body.
When all the members of the body begin to function according to each one’s measure—in other words, when the Spirit of God and the life of Christ are working in every member of the body—then each one contributes that part which the Lord is working in him, and everyone contributes it to the body.
The result is that the body builds itself up. The body of Christ is not built by these special people. The body of Christ is built directly by the members of the body.
If the members of the body are not perfected—that is to say, if they do not grow—they are not able to fulfill the ministry of the body. If they are not fulfilling the ministry of the body, then the body will never be built. Never.
People may be preaching and preaching and preaching for a hundred years, but all you will find is a congregation, not a body. The body is not built up. It is the building of a congregation.
You can build up a congregation of two or three thousand members, but it is a congregation. Where is the body? If the body local is not built, where is the body universal?
Brothers and sisters, God is very practical. We have to see this. This is the way the Lord is working. Every member of the body, as it grows and matures, begins to function—functioning together, severally but coordinately, under the Head, through the Spirit.
When this happens, the body builds itself up in love.
These men given by God to the church are like scaffolds. When you build a big building, you need some scaffolds. But after the building is finished, the scaffolds are taken off, because it is the building, not the scaffold.
The body of Christ is going to build itself up in love. This is what Paul and the others did in the book of Acts. They preached the gospel. Those who were saved were encouraged and built up. The saints began to manifest a more mature life, and more responsibility was put upon them.
The members of the body began to function to fulfill their ministry. Here, there, everywhere, you find the body begins to grow. That is the building of the body of Christ.
This is eventually fulfilled in Revelation 21 and 22, the New Jerusalem. So may the Lord show us, you know, the principle of the working of God in the book of Acts.
If we come to see this, then we will be working with God and not just working for God. Many are working for God, but few are working with God.
Our Lord Jesus, while He was on earth, did the work of the Father. He was not doing His own work, or merely doing some work for the Father. More than that, He was working the work of the Father.
May this be true with all of us: that our laboring on earth may not be just working for God, but really working with God.
O Lord, do reveal to us Thy mind and the way Thou wilt build Thy church, this body of Christ.
We pray that Thou wilt get us not only to the third heaven to see the great revelation, but Thou wilt lead us down to earth to deal with the practical matters.
We do desire to see Thy church built. We do desire to see Thy people grow spiritually, that the saints may fulfill their functions to the building up of the body of Christ in love.
O may this be real and true everywhere. We just commit ourselves to Thee, Lord. If this is what Thou art doing, we want to work with Thee.
In Thy precious name, we ask.