They shall heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall turn aside unto fables.
But be thou sober in all things, suffer hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfil thy ministry.
For I am already being poured out, and the time of my departure is come.
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith:
henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give to me at that day;
and not to me only, but also to all them that have loved His appearing.—2 Timothy 4:3-8
We mentioned before that this second letter to Timothy was the last letter Paul wrote before his martyrdom. We may consider this letter as Paul’s last will and testament.
In this letter, he shows us his last will. What did he really desire to see left behind him? What was the legacy, the secret, the heritage, that he wanted Timothy, his own son in the faith, to inherit—and, through Timothy, all those who are faithful?
We believe that in this last will of the Apostle Paul, we can see the will of our Lord and our God. It is the will of God that we should be trustworthy and faithful men and women in the last days; that we ourselves should be people to whom He can entrust Himself, people to whom He can entrust His testimony.
We are to become vessels of Jesus. Not only are we to bear the testimony faithfully, but we are also to be able to help others in this testimony. I do believe this is the last will of our Lord before His return.
He wants us to remember the holy calling with which He has called us. He wants us to keep the good deposit which He has deposited in us. He wants us to be strong in the grace which is in Christ Jesus. He wants us to suffer together with Him in the sufferings of Christ.
And He warns us to continue on like soldiers—like good soldiers of the Lord.
This evening, we would like to come to this last thing, found in 2 Timothy 4:5:
Fulfil thy ministry.
Fill up the full measure of your ministry.
We know that Paul, from the day he was called by God into this ministry, was faithful to the very end. Not because he was in any way stronger or better than anybody else, but because he knew the grace of God.
It was the grace of God that made Paul faithful to the ministry that God committed to him. So when he wrote this last letter, he said, “I am already being poured out.”
You remember, when he wrote the letter to the Philippians, he said:
But even if I am offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all.
—Philippians 2:17
This was Paul’s desire all the time. He was willing to be poured out as a libation, as a drink offering, upon the sacrifice and service of the faith of the Philippian believers.
As he offered the Philippian believers as a sacrifice unto God, he poured himself upon that sacrifice as a drink offering. On the one hand, you see how humble the Apostle Paul was. He considered the Philippian believers as the sacrifice unto God; he was just a drink offering added to that sacrifice.
But he was willing to pour himself out for their sake, and he would rejoice together with them. When it came to 2 Timothy, however, he said, “I am already being poured out.”
Throughout his life as a servant of the Lord, he was pouring himself out continuously. He poured himself out not only to the church in Philippi, but to the churches in Asia, to all the churches that God had used him to raise up, and even to churches where he had never been.
Paul was willing to pour his life upon them as a drink offering. He poured, and poured, and poured, until at last he could say, “I am already being poured out.” In other words, he had poured himself out in ministry to the extent that there was nothing more to pour out. He had poured out everything.
Therefore, he could say, “I have fought the good fight. I have finished the course. I have kept the faith.” And now there was a crown of righteousness waiting for him—not only for him, but for all who love the appearing of the Lord.
Dear brothers and sisters, the Apostle Paul was truly a good minister of Christ.
But before he passed from the scene, he left his dying words—the words of a veteran in the service of the Lord—to his son Timothy. His exhortation was:
Fulfil the full measure of your ministry.
Paul himself had already filled up the full measure of his ministry, and now he exhorted Timothy to fill up the full measure of his own ministry.
Last night we mentioned that after Paul was arrested and taken to Rome, all Asia had deserted him. Timothy was left behind in Asia.
It was very difficult for a young man like Timothy to be faithful under such circumstances. All his life he had lived under the shadow of the Apostle Paul, and now Paul was taken away from him.
Previously, in Asia, there were many dear brothers and sisters who seemed to be going on with the Lord, and Timothy had much good company. But suddenly all Asia had deserted Paul, and Paul himself was taken away.
Under that kind of situation, it was very difficult for Timothy, as a young man, even to stand in the faith. It would be a great temptation for Timothy to hide himself, not to mention trying to strengthen the brothers and sisters and bring back a testimony of Jesus.
It was a superhuman effort, and certainly Timothy considered himself inadequate.
I believe there was a great temptation for Timothy at that time: “It is no use ministering anymore. If only I can keep myself in the faith, that is all I can expect.” He would be tempted to give up the ministry that God had given him because the time was not convenient. The time was too difficult.
You remember that even the great prophet Elijah did the same thing. How, on Mount Carmel, he slew four hundred prophets of Baal; how he seemed able to turn the whole nation to God.
But after that great victory, the next day a woman spoke a word to him and said, “I will have your life.” Elijah said, “It is finished,” and he ran away.
It was no use, he thought, to continue in the ministry. No use. So why continue on? He fled.
And God said, “Elijah, what are you doing here?” God could not understand why he should be there. Elijah had his reasons:
They have killed Your prophets.
They have destroyed Your altars.
They have broken Your covenant.
I am the only one left.
I try, but I fail.
What can I do? Let me die.
Dear brothers and sisters, I do believe that Timothy must have had the same feelings within him. “What is the use of continuing in the ministry that God has given me?” It seemed useless.
Because of this, Paul exhorted him: in spite of the difficult times, when people’s ears are itching and they do not want to hear sound teaching, when they only want to hear what they like to hear and teachers are raised up to speak what they like to hear, Timothy must remain sober.
He must endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, and fulfil the full measure of his ministry. How necessary this exhortation was for Timothy.
I believe Timothy was a teacher from the time he was very young. In the local assemblies at Lystra and Iconium, the gift of a teacher was manifested in this young man.
When Paul came back to Lystra, the brothers and sisters in both places recommended Timothy. Even though he was young, he seemed to have a teaching ministry. So Paul took him with him in order to help develop the gift and ministry that God had put in this young man.
At the very last, Paul exhorted Timothy, saying, in effect, “Do not let the gift that was given to you through the laying on of my hands die out, but rekindle it.”
He was to strive diligently to present himself approved unto God, a workman who need not be ashamed. He was to proclaim the Word in season and out of season. This was an out-of-season time for proclaiming the Word.
Yet Paul said, “Be sober, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, and fulfil the full measure of your ministry.”
I believe that, after Timothy received such exhortation, by the grace of God he continued on faithfully. And he did fulfil to the fullest measure the ministry that God gave him.
Now, dear brothers and sisters, in a sense every redeemed child of God is given a ministry. We are all servants of the Lord.
It is true that the person is more important than the work, as we mentioned last night. Unless we ourselves are approved unto God, our work amounts to nothing.
Unless we purify ourselves from being wooden and earthen vessels in order to become golden and silver vessels, we cannot do the work of honor. We are unfit for the Master’s use and unprepared for every good work.
So, in one sense, it is very true, dear brothers and sisters: before we can think of the matter of ministry—or, if you please, the matter of service—we must first consider ourselves. You are more important to the Lord than what you can do for Him.
First of all, we must be before the Lord to present ourselves approved unto God. But we should not overlook the work, the service, or the ministry, because God does have a work to do, and He will perform that work through you and through me.
Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, remember this: every redeemed child of God is given a ministry. We are all called to serve. We are all in the work of God. No one is an exception.
We are all given grace and gift that we may be able to fulfil our ministry. To fulfil a ministry, you need grace and you need gift.
Without grace, even if you have gifts, you cannot fulfil your ministry. With grace, if there is not the exercise of gift, you cannot fulfil your ministry either. A ministry is fulfilled through gifts and grace: grace from the Lord Jesus, and gift from the Holy Spirit.
The grace of our Lord Jesus and the communion of the Holy Spirit are both necessary. We who are the Lord’s are all given grace by the Lord Jesus. Indeed, grace is the Lord Jesus Himself. We are all given gifts by the Holy Spirit; gifts are manifestations of the Holy Spirit.
With these two—grace and gift—we are to fulfil our ministry.
Romans 12:6 says:
And having gifts differing according to the grace that was given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of our faith.
—Romans 12:6
Here you find gifts according to grace. The whole book of Romans speaks of grace. There you find how God is merciful to us—the manifold mercies of God revealed in grace.
When we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. His blood cleanses us from all our sins. Our old man was crucified with Christ. Therefore, it is no longer I that live, but Christ who lives in me.
In Romans, you find the grace of God that has come to us in Christ Jesus. Grace has been given, and now there are different gifts according to the grace that has been given to us, so that these gifts may be used by the grace that is in us.
In Ephesians 4:7-8, it is said:
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.
In Ephesians 4, you find grace according to gift. Therefore, you cannot separate grace from gift, or gift from grace. They are distinguishable, but they are not separable. If you separate these two, you are not able to fulfil your ministry.
We may use an illustration from the high priest’s garment. At the skirt of that long robe, you find one pomegranate and one golden bell, all around the hem of his garment—one pomegranate and one golden bell.
The pomegranate speaks of grace, and the golden bell speaks of gift. With these two, the high priest fulfils his ministry.
So, dear brothers and sisters, let us remember that the Lord has given us grace and the Holy Spirit has given us gift. With grace and gift, we are to fulfil our ministry.
No matter what your specific ministry is, our ministries are varied and different, but the nature of our ministry is the same.
Before we can really enter into the matter of how to fulfil the whole measure of our ministry, we need to consider for a little while the nature of New Testament ministry.
New Testament ministry has a very special nature. It is different from Old Testament ministry.
If you turn to 2 Corinthians 3, you find that the ministry of the old covenant is represented by Moses, while the ministry of the new covenant is identified with our Lord Jesus.
We are told in John 1:17 that the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
The old covenant ministry is typified by Moses. It is a ministry of law. It is in letter; it is inscribed upon stones. It is a ministry of death and condemnation.
It is true that it does have glory, because the law does come from God and does reveal to us, to a certain degree, the holiness and righteousness of God. Therefore, the law was accompanied with glory, but it is a fading glory because of the weakness of the flesh.
But the ministry of the new covenant is a ministry of grace. It is in Spirit. It is written upon hearts. It is the ministry of the Spirit, and it is a ministry of righteousness.
This ministry has a peculiar characteristic: through that ministry, Christ is being imparted.
Not a law, not merely a teaching, but a living Christ is being written upon the hearts of those who receive that ministry.
Paul said it is like writing the living epistle of Christ. Ministers are like scribes, but the ink they use is not letter; it is the Spirit. As they minister, Christ is written in the lives of persons.
Those who receive the ministry become readable. You can read Christ in their lives. That is the peculiar characteristic of New Testament ministry.
In this ministry, the veil is taken away. People are led face to face with the Lord. They can behold the glory of the Lord with unveiled face, and they are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit.
Dear brothers and sisters, this is the nature of New Testament ministry. Because it is of such a nature, even Paul said, “Who is sufficient for these things?”
Our sufficiency is from God. Let us remember this: we are all given a ministry to fulfil, and yet this ministry is of such a nature that it is beyond anybody’s natural ability. No one is able to fulfil this ministry except by God.
No matter what your ministry is, the nature of the ministry in which we are involved is exactly the same. Whether you are called to be a teacher, an evangelist, a prophet, a helper, or to show mercy, whatever ministry you are involved in, the nature is exactly the same.
I hope I am able to impress this upon you. Somehow we think that those who are in the so-called ministry of the Word have a ministry of this peculiar character, but that other ministries do not meet that standard. That is not true.
If you are ever to serve God, your service and ministry must be of this nature. Otherwise, it is no ministry; it is no service worthy of God’s name.
Probably we will ask this question: theoretically, we believe that we are saved to serve and that we are all given a ministry to fulfil. But I do not even know what my ministry is. How can I find my ministry?
I have been asked many times by brothers and sisters, “I do feel that I should serve God, but I do not know what ministry God has called me to.”
In one sense, you know. Actually, when we are saved, supernaturally and naturally there is a desire within us to serve the Lord.
Before you are saved, you do not have such a desire. Your only desire is to serve yourself; not only do you want to serve yourself, but you want the whole world to serve you. That is your desire.
But, strangely, after you are saved, even if nobody tells you that you should serve God, there is supernaturally a natural desire to serve.
If that desire is not in you, I wonder whether you are saved. That is one way to test a person. There are many different ways.
Another way is to try to pray with someone. When you pray, “Our Father who art in heaven,” you can tell whether he is calling God his Father or merely speaking words. If he prays out of his heart, you know it.
There are many ways to test. Everyone who is saved will have that desire to serve the Lord, because he knows he is called to serve; he is called to minister. He knows it, but he does not know what particular ministry he has.
Then the natural mind takes over. The natural thought is, “Be a teacher. Be a missionary. Be a preacher,” because that is thought to be the way to serve God. But that is only natural.
It is because of that tendency that James says, “Be not many teachers, my brethren, knowing that we shall receive heavier judgment” (James 3:1).
When I was saved, I had the same problem. During the week when I was saved, I had such love for Him who loved me so much.
On the last day of the conference, according to the custom of those days, there was always a call for consecration. By consecration, it usually meant going out to be a preacher, a missionary, or a Bible woman.
The teacher began to call for consecration. He tried to stir us up, saying, “Do you love God? If you do, go out. Be a missionary; be a preacher.” A huge map of China was hanging on the platform.
The preacher said, “You can choose anywhere you want to go and serve. Whoever wants to do that, come up to the platform and put your finger on the place where you want to go.”
I was a young man of fifteen years old. I had been seeking to be saved for a whole year, and finally I was saved. You can see how I felt.
When the teacher said this, my heart was just burning. I said, “O God, I want to serve You, and in order to prove how much I love You, I want to go to the furthest place in the world to show my love to You.”
So I walked to the platform and put my finger on the furthest place in China: Mongolia.
You laugh at me, but that day I did not laugh. I was very serious. For a whole year, I prepared myself to go to Mongolia. I tried to obtain every piece of literature about southern Mongolia.
I even considered that, after graduating from high school—it was my last year in high school—I would try to go to Peking because it was nearer to Mongolia. Perhaps I could learn the language and then set my mind upon going to Mongolia as a missionary.
Thank God, He accepted my heart, but He changed my course. I have never been to Mongolia yet.
What I am trying to illustrate is this: the desire to serve God is from God, because you do have a ministry to fulfil. But because we do not know and do not understand, traditionally we have a concept as if the only way to serve God is in that fashion. Other than that, there is no way to serve God.
Dear brothers and sisters, it is this very traditional concept that has caused many brothers throughout history to live their lives wasting the grace and gift of God, because they feel that if they cannot go out as a missionary or preacher, they have no way to serve Him.
O brothers and sisters, God has put us in the Body of Christ. In the Body of Christ, there is not one single member that does not have a ministry. There is no member in the Body that is useless.
To every member of the Body, God gives grace. We all have the life of our Lord Jesus in us. If God has put you in the Body, He has set you in the Body according to His will.
If He has made you a certain member of the Body, the Spirit has given you a gift for that particular member. Can you imagine that God would give us a body, and yet some members of that body would not receive any gift?
God has set us as different members of the Body. Everyone is special. Do not try to be another member.
If God has set you to be a member of the Body, believe that He has given you a gift so that you, as that particular member, may fulfil your function.
The problem is, “How do I know which member of the Body I am? Am I an eye? Am I an ear? Am I a hand? Am I a foot? Who am I? What am I?”
Well, that is something to be discovered, is it not?
This evening I would like to make a few suggestions as to how we may know what our ministry is. If our mind is broad enough—that is, if we are not limited by the traditional concept that ministry is confined only to a few visible functions—I believe we will be able to discover what ministry God has given us.
First: the inclination of the heart.
Do not confuse this with natural desire. We all have natural desires, and natural desire is always desiring to do something that can be seen or heard. That is natural.
But as we walk with the Lord, commune with the Lord, and follow the Lord, we find that, because we have a desire to serve Him, sooner or later there will be an inward tendency created within us toward certain directions.
In other words, you may find your heart being exercised toward certain things. You begin to notice and observe things that other people do not see or are not concerned with, but God is exercising your heart toward these things.
For instance, suppose you are in a gathering of believers and really have a desire to serve God, but you do not know what to do.
As you come to the meeting, you may find that people are late. If the meeting begins at seven-thirty, people may arrive at seven-thirty-five, seven-forty-five, or even eight-thirty. They are still coming in.
Because people simply come in here and there, perhaps nobody comes beforehand to prepare the place, arrange the chairs, or put out the hymnbooks.
Others may not see these things or be concerned with them, but somehow there is an inclination of the heart. You begin to notice them. You try to come a little earlier to see whether you can do a little thing—put the chairs in order, put out the hymnbooks.
It is by the inclination of the heart that a ministry first begins. It does not begin with a great revelation.
If you are waiting for a great revelation—waiting for God to send the angel Gabriel to tell you, “So-and-so, you are a chosen vessel for this ministry”—then you may wait until eternity for Gabriel to visit you.
But the Spirit of God who dwells in you will exercise your heart in a very gentle, small, and seemingly insignificant way. This is how ministry begins.
It is simply a heart inclination. God is inclining your heart toward a certain direction.
Or suppose that in a meeting some brothers and sisters are absent. Nobody notices, but somehow you notice. You wonder why a certain brother or sister is not there, and you have a burden for that person.
You begin to pray, and perhaps you feel that you should go to see whether there is anything you can do to help. This is the way a ministry begins.
Second: as you follow the inclination of your heart and begin to serve in a small and hidden way, you need to ask whether the anointing of the Lord is with you.
When you are doing these things, do you find that the Lord is really with you? Do you have a sense of enlargement in your heart? Do you feel that it is fresh and refreshing to you?
When you are doing these things, you find that the Lord is really with you. His anointing follows you. He quickens your spirit. As you do it, you find yourself refreshed and enlarged in the Lord.
It is not merely something that leaves you exhausted after you have done it. I do not mean that in the service of the Lord you will never become physically exhausted. Sometimes you do. But I mean that in your spirit you are refreshed, enlarged, and conscious of the presence of the Lord.
If the anointing is with you, continue to do it a little longer. If you find that the anointing is not with you, then perhaps you need to look in some other direction.
When a child learns to walk, he does not know whether he should walk by his feet or by his hands. He thinks he has to walk on both, so he begins to walk on all fours.
But as he starts walking, he finds there is no anointing in walking on his hands. Somehow, his hands hinder his walking. Gradually, he discovers that he walks by his feet and gives up walking by his hands.
This is the way, I believe, that we can find where our ministry lies.
Third: not only must there be the anointing of the Lord, but we have to see whether there is fruit, or the blessing of the Lord.
Sometimes we can be very self-centered. We think that we have anointing. But by the fruit the tree is known.
Fruit does not mean immediate or apparent success. You may succeed if you have a dynamic personality. Some people have charisma, and they can move things easily. That is not what I mean.
I mean the fruit of the Spirit. As you serve in the anointing of the Lord, there is bound to be fruit to the glory of the Lord. People will be helped.
If you feel that God has given you a gift of teaching, then when you teach, not only should you have the anointing of the Lord with you, but people should really be edified.
If the more you teach, the more people’s heads hang down, then you know something is not right. It is not a question of how much you know or how long you can speak. The question is whether people are being helped.
We have to judge by the fruit. Is there the blessing of the Lord? If there is fruit, it is further evidence that this is an area in which you should continue.
Fourth: the witness of the Body.
As you begin to move in a certain direction, even if you feel that you have the anointing of the Lord and think that you see fruit, if the Body is uncomfortable and does not go with you, if there is no response, then you know something is wrong.
If you claim that your eyes are open and that you see, and you start telling the Body what you see, but the whole Body remains in darkness and says, “We do not see anything,” and does not respond, you know that you are not an eye. It is a false dream.
You cannot cheat the Body. You can deceive yourself, but you cannot deceive the Body. The Body will tell you where you belong.
If you do not belong in that particular place in the Body, the whole Body feels uncomfortable. That is one way to judge where your ministry is.
Of course, there are other things we could mention, but if we know these things, they will help us find our place. In the church, if we can fellowship with brothers in responsibility, that will be a real help.
In faithfulness, they can help us to see whether the way we view ourselves is correct or whether something is not correct. We need to be humble enough to receive correction from the Body.
This is the way we begin to find out our ministry.
In connection with this, another thing we need to remember is that ministry is not something that comes in a day. Ministry is something that has to be developed.
Do not think that one day you suddenly receive a full-grown ministry. No one is born a full-grown man. When we are born, we are tiny little babies, and it takes time to grow up.
There was only one man who, when he was created, was a full-grown man: Adam. Adam never went through childhood. But aside from Adam, we all have to begin small and gradually grow up. That is life. Life needs to grow.
As life begins to grow, gift begins to be manifested. Even after gifts are manifested, they need to be developed.
Let me illustrate. When a child is born, he has all the members of the body. He has eyes, but he cannot see clearly. It takes time for him to see.
He has hands, but he cannot hold things. If you put something in his hand, it is gone in a moment. He needs a little growth in life before he can coordinate and use his hands.
He has feet, but he cannot walk. It may take a year before he can begin to walk a little. So you find that life needs to grow.
As life begins to grow, the gift that is in life begins to be manifested. But after it is manifested, it still needs to be developed. The more you exercise your gift, the more it develops.
If you bury your gift and never give it a chance to develop, then, of course, you will be as one without a gift.
That is the lesson of the parable of the three servants. The one who was given five talents exercised and used them, and he gained five more talents. The one with two talents faithfully exercised his talents and gained two more. Their gifts were developed to the full measure.
But the one with one talent buried it. The result was that, one day, even that talent was taken away from him.
So, dear brothers and sisters, remember this: ministry is not given instantaneously in one day. It takes time to develop. It requires your life to grow.
As your life grows in the Lord, the gifts will be more manifest. As you diligently exercise your gifts, the gifts will be developed into their full measure. That is the way ministry comes.
It is true, according to the Word of God, that there are two different categories of ministry.
If you read Ephesians 4, you find that God gives gifts to men. Then, in Ephesians 4:11, it says:
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.—Ephesians 4:11-12
This is one category of ministry. We may call it the ministry of the Word.
God gave to the church some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors, and some teachers. These are men whom God gives to the church, and their ministry is to perfect the saints.
By perfecting the saints, Scripture does not mean sinless perfection. Perfection in Scripture means maturity—growing up. The purpose of the ministry of these men is to mature the saints, to help the saints grow up.
This is one category. In this category of ministry, of course, you need to be called into that special ministry. Not all are called into it.
It is a ministry that ministers to the Body so that the saints may grow up and mature. If that ministry is successful, what will happen? The saints will be equipped for the work of ministry and for the building up of the Body of Christ.
If this special ministry ministers effectively to the Body for the perfecting of the saints, then the saints, being perfected and maturing, are able to perform ministry themselves. This is body ministry.
Thus, there are two categories of ministry. One is special ministry: the ministry of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. The other is body ministry.
What is body ministry? Body ministry is a ministry that comes out of the Body. It is not a ministry that comes upon the Body.
There is a ministry that ministers to the Body from outside, as it were, and there is a ministry that comes out of the Body itself. This is called body ministry.
Every believer is involved in body ministry. You may not be involved in special ministry, but that does not mean that you do not have a ministry to fulfil, because you are involved in body ministry.
Dr. J. B. Lightfoot, an Anglican bishop and a very learned man, commented on this verse. He said that the ministry in Ephesians 4:12 is not the ministry of apostles, teachers, prophets, evangelists, and pastors. The ministry there is body ministry.
We cannot fulfil body ministry if we do not mature. That is why we must mature spiritually. If we remain as babies, we are not able to perform that body ministry.
Even if we have gifts—as in 1 Corinthians, where they had many gifts but remained as babies—the result is that the Body is not built up or edified. There is no ministry coming out of the Body.
In order that there may be body ministry, brothers and sisters, we must grow spiritually. To mature is not for yourself, that you may become a spiritual giant. To mature is for the sake of body ministry.
Nothing is for yourself. It is for the Body, for the building up of the Body. How important it is that we grow up. Do not remain as babies.
Grow spiritually through the help of that special ministry which ministers to you. Then you yourself should take up body ministry.
It is through body ministry that the Body is edified and built up. This body ministry requires every part of the Body to fulfil its function. There is no member of the Body that can be an exception.
Dear brothers and sisters, according to the Word of God, every one of you has a part in body ministry. Your part is different from the part played by other members because we are different members.
If you are an eye, you have a ministry of seeing for the Body. If you are an ear, you have a ministry of hearing for the Body. If you are a hand, you have a ministry of holding things for the Body.
Our gifts are different and our ministries are different, but the nature is the same and the purpose is the same: it is for the building up of the Body. Every one of us is involved in that ministry.
The problem today is that we depend too much on special ministry. We let the special ministry take care of everything. The result is that those engaged in special ministry work themselves to death, but the Body is not built up.
O that the Lord would impress upon you tonight that you have a ministry to fulfil. You are a member of the Body, and you are involved in body ministry, even if you may not be called to that special ministry.
You must be faithful to that which God has given you.
Another thing is the mutuality of ministry. You find that the ministries in both categories work together. There is a mutuality there.
Not only do the ministries of the two categories work together, but within body ministry all the ministries must work together.
For instance, Paul, writing to the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 10:15, said:
Having hope that, as your faith groweth, we shall be magnified in you according to our province unto further abundance,
so as to preach the gospel even unto the parts beyond you, and not to glory in another’s province in regard of things ready to our hand.—2 Corinthians 10:15-16
In other words, Paul, as an apostle, was laboring in Corinth. But if the believers in Corinth grew up and were able to take up the body ministry, then it would release Paul to go beyond Corinth into another region and open up God’s work there.
But if the believers in Corinth remained as they were, Paul would have to remain and take care of them. The result would be a restriction of ministry.
There is a mutuality. If the Body, or the local assembly, is really maturing and taking up the responsibility of body ministry in that locality, it releases those engaged in special ministry to reach beyond.
One reason why God’s work is restricted is that brothers and sisters in the places where these men labor do not take up the ministry they ought to fulfil. The result is that these workers have to be kept there to do things for them.
There is mutuality. When the Body is strong and able to take up its ministry, it can support the ministry of those engaged in special ministry.
Even within the Body, all the ministries must help one another. You cannot fulfil the full measure of your ministry if you do not receive help from the other members of the Body of Christ.
Do not think that any member can fulfil its ministry to the full independently, unrelated to the other members of the Body of Christ. That is absolutely impossible.
Let me illustrate. Here is my hand. If the Bible is a foot away from me, I stretch out my hand and take the Bible.
But suppose the Bible is at the other end of the room. Even though my hand is able to hold it, it is beyond its reach. It needs the help of my feet to take the hand to the end of the room, in order that the hand may fulfil its ministry.
No one member can fulfil his ministry to the full measure without the help of the other members.
I also marvel at one thing. You may notice that I have perfect teeth—because they are all dentures.
I remember, way back when I was in China, that at one time I was serving the Lord, but at the same time I was teaching. My teeth became so decayed that I had to have all my upper teeth removed.
After the teeth were put in my upper jaw, I rested a few days and then returned to school to teach. Fortunately, my students did not laugh at me.
When I was teaching, I found great difficulty in giving the right pronunciation. I tried to say things, but they did not come out quite right.
I often thought that I spoke with my tongue. So long as my tongue was healthy, I could speak. But then I discovered that without the help of my teeth, I could not speak correctly.
It is true that the teeth are not for speaking; the tongue is for speaking. But the tongue needs the help of the teeth.
You may say, “Of course, teeth are for eating. They do not need the tongue’s help.” On the contrary, the tongue is there in the mouth, and sometimes you bite it.
But try to eat without a tongue and you will find that you cannot. When food comes into your mouth, sometimes it needs to be cut and sometimes it needs to be ground. It has to be moved back and forth in the mouth. Who does that work?
It is the tongue. Otherwise, when you eat, all your fingers would have to move into your mouth.
We need each other. For the fulfilment of our ministry to the full measure, we need one another.
Do not think that your brothers and sisters stand in your way. They help you. We help one another to fulfil our ministry.
Finally, there is a better way. First Corinthians 13 says that it is love.
If we want to fulfil our ministry, we have to do it in the spirit of love. If there is no love, you will find that our ministries clash with one another instead of helping one another.
If we do not have love, we may think that we do not need our brothers and sisters, that we can do it much better by ourselves. If we do not have love, the Body cannot exist.
So, brothers and sisters, in this matter of ministry, remember that it has to be carried out in the atmosphere and spirit of love.
First Corinthians 13 was a chapter that baffled me for many years. When I was a young Christian, I understood that 1 Corinthians 14 was a chapter on spiritual gifts.
I remember, as a young person, that a few of us young people were invited to a church to preach on 1 Corinthians 13. We divided the chapter among ourselves, and each one preached a section.
But the more I studied 1 Corinthians 13, the more I was baffled. Why? Because I felt, “This is not enough. This is not love.”
My understanding of love was that love is something positive, something giving, something aggressive. But 1 Corinthians 13 says that love suffers long. “Love suffers long”—is that not negative?
Until one day, the Lord showed me that 1 Corinthians 13 stands between chapters 12 and 14 for a reason.
First Corinthians 12 speaks of the Body. First Corinthians 14 speaks of the operation of the Body—the ministry of the Body. In order that the Body may have its ministry, you need love.
The first element of love is to suffer. From whom do you suffer? From your brothers and sisters.
If you are not able to bear with and forbear with your brothers and sisters, there is absolutely no way to fulfil your ministry. Ministry cannot be fulfilled except in love.
Your brothers and sisters may seem to stand in your way. How many people in this world are exercising their gifts all by themselves? Why? Because they cannot stand the other members.
So, dear brothers and sisters, there must be love. There must be forbearance.
Finally, fulfil the full measure of your ministry. It is not merely a matter of having a ministry; you have to fill up the full measure of your ministry.
In order to fill up that full measure, how diligent you must be, how faithful you must be, and how much you must cooperate with your brothers and sisters. That is the only way to fill up the full measure of your ministry.
So, dear brothers and sisters, as we draw to a close, let us remember: God’s reaction to our time is not negative. It is not withdrawal. God’s reaction to our time is that we may press on.
The things which we have heard, let us receive them as a trust, and let us try to instruct others also. There is nothing negative about it.
We still have to present ourselves approved unto God, and we still have to fulfil the full measure of our ministry.
Thank God. He is able.
O my heavenly Father, we do praise and thank You that, as we are in difficult days…