Hold on.
As we are before Thee, we do pray that Thou wilt turn us on, that we may have our gaze fixed upon Thee. Thou art the risen, ascended One, Thou who sittest at the right hand of the Father, who art above all things and waiting for Thine enemies to be Thy footstool.
Lord, we do pray that we may see Thee, that we may be delivered from ourselves, from earth, that we may be caught up into that heavenly realm and there not only stand, but reign with Thee.
Oh, we do pray that through the church Thou mayest be able to manifest Thy manifold wisdom, in the present time, to the principalities and authorities; that Thou mayest be able to reveal Thy unsearchable riches, even to the unseen world, through Thy church.
So we do come to Thee and ask Thee that Thy Holy Spirit will reveal again Thyself to us. We pray that we may forget ourselves by being absorbed into Thyself.
We pray Thee that Thou dost reveal Thyself to us through Thy Holy Spirit, that truly we may be absorbed, lost in Thee. Oh, we do pray that we may see no one but Jesus only.
We do desire that in this whole universe the Lord Jesus may be the only One seen by all. We do look to Thee in the name of our Lord Jesus.
Dear brothers and sisters, we have been occupied just with one thing, and that is the unsearchable riches of Christ. Oh, let us put it in a better way: we are occupied with one Person, and that is our Lord Jesus.
We mentioned last night the unsearchable riches of the mystery of the Christ. Paul, on the way to Damascus, was given a heavenly vision. In that heavenly vision, he saw not only the risen One Himself, but in that vision he saw also the Body.
We mentioned last night that it was a vision of the one new man, with Christ Himself as the glorious Head and with the church as His Body, the fullness of Him who filleth all in all.
Dear brothers and sisters, if we try to know Christ in the flesh, we will see a very different Christ. We will have a very wrong concept of Christ. We have to see Christ in the Spirit, and if we see Christ in the Spirit, then we see Him as He is.
In the same manner, if we are trying to see the church with our natural eyes, with our natural mind, in the flesh, it does not look very beautiful. Rather, it is very ugly. But if, by the grace of God, we are delivered from the fleshly look and are able to see the church in the Spirit, we shall find that it is the most beautiful thing that you can see in this universe.
Last night, I feel that I had left off something which I would like to mention very briefly now, and then we will go on, because our emphasis is rather on the practical life.
Dear brothers and sisters, when Paul was shown that heavenly vision, when he discovered that this One is Jesus, the risen One, He who is above all, the Lord in glory, what was the effect upon the life of Paul?
If you really see something, that something is bound to have a lasting effect in your life. If you proclaim that you have seen something, and yet it does not affect your life, it does not change your life—as our brother says, revolutionize your life—then we wonder if you have really seen.
Now, dear brothers and sisters, this man Saul, who was called Paul afterwards—this Paul the apostle—he saw the Lord of glory. And immediately the effect was this: you remember, the first question he asked was, “Who art Thou, Lord? I do not know Thee. Who art Thou?”
And after he was told who that One was, you remember the second question was, “Lord, what dost Thou want me to do?” You know, there was a drastic change in his life.
Dear brothers and sisters, maybe you will feel, “Well, is it a change?” But to Paul, it was a tremendous change. What kind of person was Paul? Paul was a person who was used to giving orders. He was not accustomed to listen and to receive orders. He was a born leader. He must be at the top. He must lead. He was that kind of person.
And for that kind of person to turn around and ask, “What do You want me to do? I am at Thy orders. I am at Thy disposal. I am waiting before Thee”—oh, brothers and sisters, it is a tremendous change.
In seeing the Lord of lords, the effect upon his life was this: he could not be head anymore. He lost his head.
Brothers and sisters, immediately you find that from that day onward, the Lord of glory became his Head, because the headship of the Lord is a reality; it is a life. He is no longer one who gives commands. He is always one who is on the receiving side.
Dear brothers and sisters, if the Lord should give us a vision of Him, if the Lord should reveal Himself to us as the glorious Head—He is Head over all things—then, brothers and sisters, can you be head anymore? You are beheaded.
This is a practical aspect of seeing the Head. Brothers and sisters, our God is a jealous God. He never permits there to be more than one head. He has established His Son as the Head over all things. No matter how big your head is, there is no chance.
Dear brothers and sisters, that will revolutionize your whole life. He said, “Lord, what do You want? What do You want me to do? I am at Thy disposal. You just say a word, and there I go. I am willing to turn around and go back to Jerusalem if You want me to. Just give orders, and I will obey.”
And you know, Paul got another surprise. Did the Lord tell him what to do? Yes or no? Not much. He was expecting the Lord to tell him what he should do.
Now he had come to a point to see that the Lord is greater than he. Now he had come to a place where he yielded his head and made the Lord his Head, and he was ready to obey the Lord. But somehow the Lord did not tell him. Why?
The Lord said, “All right, go to Damascus, into that city, and what I want you to do I will tell you.”
Dear brothers and sisters, do you have such experience? You know the Lord, but you are your own head. You always do things in your own way. You always go your own way. But one day you get such a revelation of the Lord that you willingly yield yourself to the Lord, and then, “Lord, from now on, You are my Head. Give orders.”
You would expect that the Lord would be so pleased by your willingness, and He would be in such a hurry, in case you would retract, that the Lord would immediately tell you, “Now, son, do this, do that,” and even tell you your whole life story from the beginning to the end.
But the Lord did not. Instead, the Lord said, “You just wait. What should be told to you will be told to you. You just wait.” Does that disappoint you? “He is not too much of a Lord. He does not know how to be Head. He may lose His opportunity.” A real Head is not in a hurry.
And brothers and sisters, the strangest thing is this: even after he got to the city of Damascus and waited there, praying and fasting for three days and three nights, all he got was a little unknown man coming to him.
The great Paul, well known in the circle of Judaism, capitulated himself to the Lord of glory. Now, that is the right thing to do, because after all, He is the Lord of glory. But here you find the Lord sent a little man, Ananias—known in that city, but thoroughly unknown in Jerusalem—and the Lord sent this man to Paul to tell Paul what the Lord had chosen him to do.
Dear brothers and sisters, it is very hard for us to swallow. For Paul to let Christ be his Head is comparatively easy. But instead of directly giving command to him, the Lord sent a small member to tell him what he ought to do.
Is that not humiliating? A great apostle receiving instruction from the Lord through the hands of a little member? Dear brothers and sisters, why? There is the practical application of the vision of the Body.
Dear brothers and sisters, if you say the Lord has shown you the church, the Body of Christ, what does that mean? What is the effect upon your life?
Many brothers and sisters—good brothers and sisters—maintain a very strong position, saying, “I obey no one but the Lord. There is no one above me but the Head, the Lord Himself. If the Lord should tell me this, I would obey, even jumping into the ocean. But that is all. I receive direct orders from Him. I am dependent only upon the Lord and no one else. I am responsible directly to the Lord, and the Lord is responsible directly to me.”
Well, you may see something of the Head—not too much. But brothers and sisters, do you see the Body, the fullness of Him who filleth all in all?
To see the Head results in losing your head. To see the Body results in losing your individualism.
Dear brothers and sisters, are you related to the other members of the Body of Christ? Are you the Body to the Head, or are you just one member of the Body?
In 1 Corinthians 12:12, it is said that there are many members, but one body. Though the members are many, yet one body; so also is the Christ.
For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of the body, being many, are one body; so also is Christ.
Oh, brothers and sisters, do not forget that Christ, the Person, is your Head, but you are only a member. Oh, that is a big difference. You are not the Body. You are related to the other members of the Body of Christ. Dear brothers and sisters, are you related?
That is an effect of seeing the church. That is the test of seeing the church.
The reason why the Lord did not tell Paul directly and immediately His will, and yet told him through another man, is because if the Lord should tell him everything at that very spot—if the Lord should tell him all that the Lord wanted him to do—do you know what would be the result?
He would be an independent, self-sufficient, unrelated person. He would make himself the Body. He would never be able to be entrusted with the mystery of the Christ.
From the very beginning of his life, he had to learn this lesson: relatedness unto fullness. He was not able to know the will of God until Ananias laid his hands upon him and told him.
Dear brothers and sisters, relatedness is unto fruitfulness. Do we know that? If we really want to enter into the unsearchable riches of the Christ, brothers and sisters, you cannot be independent.
Many say, “I cannot live without the Lord.” Praise God for you. If you have come to a point where you cannot live without the Lord, that is a very good position. But, dear brothers and sisters, have you ever cried out, “I cannot live without the church. I cannot live without other members of the Body of Christ. I need them, and they need me”?
Oh, brothers and sisters, there you will experience the unsearchable riches. I just feel that I have to mention this in a brief way; otherwise, it does not seem to be too practical.
Now let us come to what, by the grace of God, we would like to fellowship tonight. Will you please turn to the letter to the Ephesians?
Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of that grace of God which was given me according to the working of His power.
Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, was this grace given, to preach unto the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.
But unto each one of us was the grace given according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
Wherefore He saith,
When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive,
And gave gifts unto men.Now that He ascended, what is it but that He also descended into the lower parts of the earth?
He that descended is the same also that ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.
And He gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
for the perfecting of the saints, unto the work of ministering, unto the building up of the body of Christ:
till we all attain unto the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a fullgrown man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
that we may be no longer children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, in craftiness, after the wiles of error;
but speaking truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him, who is the Head, even Christ;
from whom all the body fitly framed and knit together through that which every joint supplieth, according to the working in due measure of each several part, maketh the increase of the body unto the building up of itself in love.
Ye are our epistle, written in our hearts, known and read of all men;
being made manifest that ye are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in tables that are hearts of flesh.
And such confidence have we through Christ to God-ward:
not that we are sufficient of ourselves, to account anything as from ourselves; but our sufficiency is from God;
who also made us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.
Dear brothers and sisters, our brother mentioned this afternoon that we should not remain in that low level of asking everything for ourselves. In other words, we should not be self-centered. We should not be selfish, even in spiritual things, in seeking spiritual pleasure.
We should, from the very beginning of our life with the Lord, dedicate ourselves to Him: to serve Him, to minister unto Him, to serve the purpose of God in our generation. This was true of Paul, and this must be true of every one of us.
Of course, we are familiar with that matter. We are saved to serve God, are we not? God, through Moses, announced to Pharaoh, “Let My people go, that they may serve Me.” Why are we saved? Why are we set free? That we may serve God.
In Romans 6:22, having been freed from the bondage of sin, we have become bondmen to God, bearing fruit unto holiness. We are saved to serve, and many take this to heart and go out to serve.
Now, dear brothers and sisters, the question is: How do we serve? By what do we minister?
Now, of course, you have to forgive me, because when I use that word ministry, I do not mean what is commonly known today—that limited, restricted thing of ministry. That is to say, you enter into the ministry; you enter into a kind of specialty. Now, I do not mean that, because the word is not used in that way in the Word of God.
Rather, we are using that word ministry in its broadest sense. It includes every one of us. We are saved to serve, to minister unto the Lord. But how? Is there any relationship between our ministry and the unsearchable riches of Christ? Can we minister without the unsearchable riches of Christ? If we can, what are we ministering?
Dear brothers and sisters, ministry—spiritual ministry—is nothing but the expression of all the unsearchable riches of Christ.
We read in Ephesians 4:
Wherefore He saith,
When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive,
And gave gifts unto men.
Now this speaks of the ascension of our Lord Jesus. What is the meaning of the death and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus? It has been mentioned again and again that through the death and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus, a people is gained, a Body is formed, a church is born.
But after our Lord Jesus had risen from the dead, He remained here for forty days. And after forty days, eventually, we read that this same One—the One who was crucified, buried, and risen from the dead—this very One ascended on high and is now seated at the right hand of God.
Dear brothers and sisters, what has happened in His ascension? What is the meaning of His ascension to us? Here you find the Apostle Paul’s quotation from Psalm 68:18.
Thou hast ascended on high, Thou hast led away captives;
Thou hast received gifts among men,
Yea, among the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell with them.
Dear brothers and sisters, our Lord Jesus ascended on high as the Victor of Calvary. Our Lord Jesus ascended to heaven as the all-victorious, triumphant One. And while He ascended, He led His captives in His train. He has led captivity captive.
Who are these captives? You know, according to the Roman custom, when a general or a consul had conquered a country and got many captives, then when he came back from that battle there would be a parade, a triumphant parade. And there in his train would be those captives, those who were captured.
They would be sold as slaves, or they would be used as playthings in the Coliseum. He led his captives in his train.
Dear brothers and sisters, when our Lord Jesus ascended to heaven, He led captivity captive. Who are these captives? Thank God—you and you. We are captured by the Lord.
We are freed from our former captivity. He has conquered the strong man and has set us free, but He has captured us. In His great love toward us, in His great mercy and grace toward us, He has captured us. He has made us His captives.
In the Roman days, when the general got captives, how would he treat them? Either he would put them to death, or he would sell them for some profit. He would use them as slaves and evilly treat them because they were his captives.
But, dear brothers and sisters, the Lord Jesus led captivity captive. How does He treat us? He has turned the rebels into the most gracious slaves. He has turned these rebels, enemies who fought against God, into those servants, ministers, who minister the unsearchable riches of Christ.
The Psalmist tells us, “Thou hast led captivity captive. Thou hast received gifts among men.” These men become gifts. They are the gifts the Father has given to Him.
Brothers and sisters, we are gifts to Christ, given to the Son by the Father. Is that not marvelous? Is that not mercy?
More than that, when Paul quotes that verse, he does not seem to make a direct quotation. He becomes a little bit forgetful, because if you read Ephesians 4, you will find it is different from Psalm 68:18.
He led captivity captive,
And gave gifts unto men.
Here we see, “received gifts among men” in the Psalm, but in Ephesians, “He gave gifts unto men.” Brothers and sisters, what does it mean?
It means that He receives us as gifts of the Father to Him. And as soon as He receives these gifts, He gives gifts to men. He gives gifts for what purpose? That we may minister unto Him. He equips us. He enables us to minister unto Him.
Yes, in Ephesians 4 it says:
And He gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers.
Well, you say, “Yes, some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some shepherds and teachers—some, only some. How about the rest?”
Does He only give gifts to the apostles, to the prophets, to the teachers, to the evangelists? Are all those apostles, teachers, prophets, and evangelists gifts to the church, and the rest have no place, no share?
Dear brothers and sisters, it seems to be a common concept in the Christian world. Even though sometimes we say we are saved to serve, yet those who are supposed to serve are just a special class. They are the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers.
Is it not that God gives them to the church to serve the church? Yes, surely. They are to serve. How about the rest? The rest ought to be served. Is that not just a picture of Christianity today?
Oh, how we have come short of the glory of God in this thing. Yes, God has called some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some shepherds and teachers. With a view to ministry, what is their ministry? What is their service?
They are not to monopolize the ministry. They are to stimulate, to help, to open the way, to strengthen every member of the Body, that each member may become a living, functioning member of the Body.
Every member has a ministry, and ministering one to another, the Body grows unto the full stature of Christ.
One servant of the Lord said, “The spiritual ministry of all the members may seem to be a strange thing to us today, but it is the very life of the apostolic church.”
Here, brothers and sisters, through the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus, the church of God is born. But He does not leave His church alone, born but not cared for. No parent will do it.
The church is born through the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus. After she is born, the blessed Lord provides for her growth. How is the church to mature? How is the Body to become full-grown? How can that manhood be reached? How can we arrive at the full measure of the stature of Christ?
Through the special ministry of a few? Never. They may labor themselves to death, but they will not accomplish it.
They have their part in helping all the members of the Body to realize that you are a member of the living Body of Christ. And as a member, you are given a gift.
No one can say, “I am the foot, and therefore I do not belong to the Body. Count me out. I am here, but nobody would notice me if I am absent. Nobody would ask for me. I am just a little one. I do not count. What can I offer? What ministry can I offer?”
Dear brothers and sisters, such humility is not of God.
Do not say that you are high above all; therefore, you do not need the other members. Dear brothers and sisters, we need one another.
Every member is fitted together in the Body by God, by His sovereignty. And every member is given a gift for ministry. What is the ministry? It is the ministry of the building up of the Body. That is it.
Let us return. Did Paul serve God before he was converted? He was persecuting the churches. He thought he was serving God.
He was a fulfillment of that prophecy of our Lord Jesus. The Lord told His disciples, “The day will come when people will kill you and think they are serving God.” And that is Paul. He thought he was doing God a great service, but actually, in that service, he was serving God in his own way.
He was serving God with his own wisdom, with his own strength. There was no need for him to be related to Christ, no need for him to know the unsearchable riches of Christ. He could well do that without Christ.
But, dear brothers and sisters, his true ministry began only after he was met by the Lord. The mercy and grace of the Lord transformed him and made him a vessel of honor, a minister to minister.
His ministry is closely linked with the unsearchable riches of Christ. His ministry is a spiritual ministry. He himself said that he was not made a minister of the old covenant, but he was made a minister of the new covenant.
Now, dear brothers and sisters, who are these ministers of the old covenant? What is the old covenant? The old covenant is the law. Who are these ministers of the law? The Levites.
If you are born in the tribe of Levi, then after certain training and after a period of apprenticeship, you naturally enter into the ministry of the old covenant. You begin to function in the temple. Everything is mapped out for you. There is a program fully prepared. You just fit into that schedule. That is all you need to do.
Your own life with the Lord does not matter. So long as you can read, so long as you can remember that you do not do a wrong action at a wrong time, you are trained. The law is engraved on stones, the letters, the Ten Commandments. If you can read them, you can memorize them.
If you are trained under some senior priests in how to interpret these laws, and you are told and practice how to offer this and offer that and all these many things, brothers and sisters, you are priests. You are ministers of the old covenant, ministers of condemnation, ministers of death.
For the letter kills. Do you know, brothers and sisters, even though we are not under the old covenant, how many today are ministering death and condemnation?
How are we qualified to minister? By natural birth? “Because my father is a minister, therefore I have the best environment. Naturally, gradually, I am being channeled into a ministry.” Is that not the picture?
How do we minister today? “Oh, if you want to minister, you have to go through certain training. If you want to minister, all right, here is a program. If you follow closely the tradition, you are all right. Just add into that some of your dynamic personality.”
Dear brothers and sisters, but we are all called not to be ministers of the old covenant. We are called to be ministers of the new covenant.
What is that? The new covenant is grace. We are called to be ministers of righteousness, ministers of life. How are you going to do that?
When Paul was called, God said, “You are to go to those people, to the nations, to open their eyes, to turn them out of darkness into light, that their sins may be remitted, and they may inherit with all the saints in the light.” Brothers and sisters, how can you do that? How can you open people’s eyes? How can you impart life to others?
Paul says, “Who is competent for it? I am not competent. My competency is of God.”
Oh, brothers and sisters, what is true ministry? True ministry is the ministry of life. It is ministering Christ.
This is not something that is appointed by man. This is not something that is taught by man. It has to come by revelation.
In the measure of the Son revealed in your spirit is the measure of your ministry to the church. Brothers and sisters, it is the unsearchable riches of Christ that are first known to us and, as our brother said, wrought into us, become a part of us, become our very life.
And by the power of the Spirit, this life is communicated forth into the Body. Brothers and sisters, that is building up the Body of Christ. That is the only ministry that builds up the Body.
Oh, dear brothers and sisters, look at Paul. Because of his understanding of the unsearchable riches of Christ, what a ministry he had. And because of those unsearchable riches of Christ, that ministry was entrusted to him. With fear and trembling, he ministers unto the Lord.
Maybe you will say, “Well, I am not Paul. I am not an apostle. I am not a prophet. I am not an evangelist. I am not a shepherd and teacher. Certainly God does not require that of me.”
Dear brothers and sisters, even though some may have a greater ministry, others may have a smaller part, but the nature is the same. We are all called to minister unto Christ by ministering Christ to the church.
Each one of us is given a special gift. No one can take your place. If you are not functioning, the Body lacks in that particular ministry.
Brother, sister, it is a great responsibility, a great privilege. What a great responsibility. Now you may say, “Well, I want to minister unto the Body, but I do not know what my gift is.”
Very often young brothers and sisters will come and say, “Well, brother, tell me, what is my gift? Will you tell me what is my place in the Body? Whether I am a hand, or I am a foot, or I am an ear, or I am a mouth, or I am an eye—what am I? I do not know what I am. I do not know what my gift is. How can I minister? How can I function? I do not know.”
Oh, brothers and sisters, it seems as if this question is very reasonable, and many are asking that question.
I cannot, I dare not tell what member of the Body of Christ you are. I cannot, I will not tell what gift you have. God puts you in the Body according to His will. The Spirit of God gives you gifts according to His will. I do not know.
But one thing I know: if you are rightly related to God, if you are rightly related to your brothers and sisters, if you are growing in spiritual life, if the measure of Christ is growing in you, out of that growth comes ministry. That is very true.
You do not need to be conscious of it. If my hand is always asking the question, “Oh, what am I? What is my ministry to the Body? Now, what should I do?”—if my hand is doing that, it is paralyzed.
You all know the story of the centipede with one hundred feet. Do I pronounce it right? A centipede with one hundred feet, and of course he walks very fast. But one day he stopped and said, “Now, which of my feet starts first?”
And you know, as he is thinking of that and trying to figure out which step moves first, he is transfixed to the ground. He never moves until finally he gives up and says, “Well, that is hopeless,” and off he goes.
Brothers and sisters, if we try to figure out, “Now, what member am I of the Body? Now, what is my gift?” you are paralyzed. Forget yourself. Fix your eyes upon the risen and ascended Lord.
Oh, brothers and sisters, if you are joined to the ascended Lord, without knowing it, you minister Christ in your particular capacity to the Body. Nothing official, nothing formal, but it is Christ being ministered into the Body.
And, dear brothers and sisters, the result is that the Body grows, is built up in love, and while the Body is built up, you too are built up. The other brothers and sisters—you will find that it is Christ.
Ministry is ministering Christ, and that is the only ministry that builds up.
So may the Lord be gracious to us, that we may be delivered from that old notion of ministry: the minister belongs to some special class. God, let us see that the spiritual ministry of all the members of the Body is needed for the completion of that Body. May we be found in this. Let us pray.
Oh Lord, we praise Thee that Thou hast ascended on high and hast led captivity captive. Oh, Thou hast turned us from rebels into the obedient. Thou hast turned Thine enemies into Thy bondservants.
Thou hast not required us to equip ourselves to serve, but as a good Master, Thou hast equipped us with Thy gifts. We pray that we may be faithful, that we may grow in our spiritual life, that we may know more of Thy riches, in order that we may serve Thee better and better serve Thy purpose.
Oh, have mercy upon all of us, in the precious name of our Lord Jesus.