Dear Heavenly Father, as we gather here this afternoon in the name of Thy beloved Son, our Lord Jesus, we do praise and thank Thee that Thou hast given Thy Son to us. We thank Thee that Thy Son loves the church and gave Himself for her.
How we praise and thank Thee that, unworthy as we are, yet we are loved by Thee. We are cared for by Thee. We do praise and thank Thee for every provision that Thou hast made for Thy church.
So, as we gather here this afternoon, we just look to Thee to once again reveal Thyself to us, reveal Thy Word to us, and show us Thy way, that we may know how to walk in it, to the praise of Thy glory. We ask in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
In these afternoon sessions, we deal with these two matters: the government and the ministry of local assemblies. We feel that these two things are very much needed in the churches today.
We have briefly considered together, during the past two sessions, local government. Starting from this afternoon, we would like to turn our attention to this matter of local ministry.
First of all, let us be very clear that it is the will of God that every member of the body of Christ must be involved in ministry. Ministry is not something that is only to be done by a few. The will of God is that every member of the body of Christ must function and minister one to another for the growth of the body.
You know, the reason why today we find the local churches so weak, and not growing as they should, is because they rely upon one or a few to minister instead of seeing that every member of the body of Christ must be involved in ministry.
If you read Ephesians 4, it is true that God has raised up some people for the ministry of the Word. But these people are God’s gifts to His church for the perfecting of the saints—that is, to mature the saints, to help the saints to grow, and to equip the saints. After they are perfected, matured, and equipped, then they begin to function and to fulfill the ministry of the body.
There is such a thing called body ministry. Body ministry comes out from the body, and it is for the body. In this matter of body ministry, every brother and sister should be involved. Every member of the body must function according to the grace and gift that God has given to each.
Unless we see every member of the body, we do not really see the church. So I hope that, when we are talking about local ministry, you will not think that, because of what we are going to discuss, you are not involved. As a matter of fact, everyone is involved.
In Ephesians 4:15-16, you find that all the members of the body grow up into the Head—that is, into Christ. Then every member functions and works according to each part, for the self-building up of the body in love.
As we are joined to the Head, as we hold fast the Head, as we grow into the Head and grow in Christ, then you find the whole body—every member—beginning to minister one to another. The result is that the body is built in love.
In Colossians 2:19, it is said that, holding fast the Head, from whom all the body, being supplied and knit together through the joints and bands, increaseth with the increase of God.
If you read 1 Corinthians 12, you find that even though there is one body, yet there are many members; and even though there are many members, yet there is one body. All the members are different. They are given different gifts according to the pleasure of the Holy Spirit, because gifts are the manifestations of the Holy Spirit.
Yet all these members are needed. Every member must be living and functioning, so the body will not be paralyzed. As all these members begin to function and contribute to the welfare of the body, there you find the body is built and grows.
This is the fundamental principle: every member of the body of Christ—if you are the Lord’s, if you are saved, if you have life, if the Holy Spirit dwells in you and has given you a particular gift—then, brothers and sisters, we are to function. We are to minister one to another, and then you will find that the church will increase with the increase of God.
If you read 1 Corinthians 14, you find that when all the brothers and sisters are assembled together—that is, when the church meets—each one has a psalm, one has a teaching, one has a revelation, one has an interpretation. Let everything be done for the edification of the body of Christ.
Every brother and sister is to bring something to the church for its increase. Every one of us can edify, exhort, encourage, console, and comfort. This is something in which everyone can be, and must be, involved.
Knowing this, we come to the matter of local ministry. The local ministry of which we are speaking is a little different. We are not talking about body ministry, in which everybody is involved. We are not talking about exhortation, encouragement, and consolation, in which everybody may have a part.
We are talking about ministry as the ministry of the Word of God in a local assembly.
Before we speak about the ministry of the Word of God in a local assembly, we have first to speak about something larger. In the Word of God, you do find that God raises up some people for the ministry of God’s Word.
In the early church in Jerusalem, there were the twelve apostles. They ministered the Word of God to the people of God. But at the same time, they had to serve tables and care for the widows and their needs. They were doing both, and because they were doing both, both suffered.
Finally, when a problem arose, they realized that it was not God’s will for them to monopolize everything in the house of God. God has different ones to do different works. So they asked the brethren to choose seven to take care of the tables, and they said:
We will continue stedfastly in prayer, and in the ministry of the word.
In 2 Corinthians 4:1, Paul says, “Having this ministry, even as we obtained mercy, we faint not.” The ministry of which he is speaking is not body ministry. It is the ministry of the Word of God to which he was especially called.
In Ephesians 4, you find that after our Lord Jesus died and was resurrected, He gave gifts to men. He gave to the church some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers.
These classes of people are gifts from the Head of the church to His church, His body, for the perfecting of the saints. These are ministers of the Word of God. They are involved in this ministry of the Word of God.
Why is the ministry of the Word of God so important? If you read Acts 20:28, you find that the Apostle Paul, being pressed to arrive at Jerusalem by Pentecost, bypassed Ephesus, the church that he loved so much and in which he had spent so much of himself.
Instead of going to Ephesus, he called the elders of Ephesus to come to Miletus. There he shared his heart with them and said, “You may never see me again, but I commit you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up.”
Brothers and sisters, how is the church built? The church is built by the Word of grace, by the Word of God. That is the reason why the ministry of the Word is so essential to the church.
Our Lord, the Head, loves the church. Therefore, He gave these classes of men to the church.
The apostle is not a gift; apostleship is an office. In other words, God has called some people and sent them out for a specific mission. The mission is to plant churches.
In Ephesians, Paul has the universal church in mind. The church is the body of Christ, the fullness of Him who filleth all in all. For the universal church, God gave these classes of men. Apostles are sent out; naturally, they go from place to place, planting the churches of God.
Then we have the evangelists. Actually, we do not know exactly what is the gift of an evangelist, but we know the work of an evangelist. He travels from place to place to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ and to bring people into the kingdom of God.
For instance, consider Philip. One of the seven who served tables was Philip. Because of persecution, the people were scattered, and there was no longer the same need for them to remain in Jerusalem to serve tables. Philip traveled to Samaria, and God used him mightily there.
At the very time when the work in Samaria seemed so successful, the Holy Spirit took Philip out of Samaria and said, “Go south on the way to Gaza, which is in the desert.” Think of that. An evangelist would seem to belong where there are many people and many opportunities to spread the gospel. Yet the Holy Spirit has His own plan.
Philip obeyed God. He left Samaria and went down the road to Gaza, in the desert. There he met the eunuch from Ethiopia, who had returned from worshiping in Jerusalem and was reading in his chariot.
The Holy Spirit said to Philip, “Go near, and join thyself to this chariot.” Philip ran alongside. He asked the man, “Do you understand what you are reading?” The eunuch was reading Isaiah 53 and did not know whether the prophet spoke of a nation or a person.
Philip began from Isaiah 53 and explained to him the Lord Jesus. The eunuch accepted the Lord. When they came to a place with water, he said, “What doth hinder me to be baptized?” He wanted to belong to Christ. Philip baptized him, and the Spirit of God took Philip away.
The eunuch went on his way rejoicing. He lost Philip, but he had Christ. Philip was found at Azotus, one of the cities of the Philistines, and he traveled through the cities until finally he came to Caesarea.
An evangelist moves around, just as apostles move around. Peter moved around; all the apostles moved around.
Then you have the prophets and the teachers. It seems to me that prophets and teachers may serve both in local ministry and in universal ministry.
If you read the Book of Acts, you find that apostles and evangelists seem to be moving around. But prophets and teachers sometimes remain in one place, and at other times they travel.
The emphasis of prophets in the New Testament is not foretelling but forth-telling. Prophets are those who receive revelation and know the mind of God. They are able to share with God’s people what God’s mind is, what God thinks, what God is going to do, and what His ultimate purpose is.
Today, people often think that a prophet is one who foretells: one who tells you whom you should marry, or what you should do. Now, God does sometimes use a prophet to tell an individual something concerning God’s will, but in the New Testament this is rare.
If it is done, it is only for confirmation or correction, never for direction. Why? In Old Testament times, the Holy Spirit had not yet come. How were people to know the mind of God or the will of God?
One way was to go to the high priest, who bore the breastplate with the names of the twelve tribes. Behind the breastplate were the Urim and Thummim—light and perfection. As the high priest appeared before God for the nation, God somehow revealed His mind for His people.
We do not know exactly how the Urim and Thummim worked. Some say that the stones completed the Hebrew alphabet and that light revealed the mind of God. Others say they were lots, through which a person could discern an answer. We do not know for sure. But in Old Testament times, this was one way of knowing the mind of God.
There were also seers and prophets, such as Samuel. Saul went out to find his father’s lost asses, and when he could not find them, he went to Samuel the seer. Samuel told him that the asses had already returned home and that his father was now worrying about him.
There was also the Torah, the oracle of God. Yet, because the Holy Spirit had not come, ordinary people had no way to know the mind of God for themselves. They had to consult a seer, a prophet, or a high priest.
But in New Testament times, brothers and sisters, we are under the new covenant. What is the new covenant? You do not need anyone to tell you, “Know the Lord,” because from the least to the greatest, all shall know Him.
The Holy Spirit has come. The Spirit of God has come; the Spirit of Christ has come. He now dwells in every believer. If you are a child of God, the Holy Spirit dwells in your human spirit, and the Holy Spirit teaches you in all things.
Sometimes His teaching is a still, small voice. Sometimes it is like the anointing moving within you. Sometimes it is like light beginning to burst forth within you. Sometimes it is simply a deep sense of peace.
But it is the Holy Spirit Who is teaching you and leading you. Therefore, prophets and teachers are not given to direct your life. Your life is too precious to Christ. He will not leave your soul to any person. He will take care of you Himself.
Prophets today are to tell God’s people the mind of God, the purpose of God, and the will of God. If they say something personal, it is not to direct your life; it is either to confirm what the Holy Spirit has already told you or to correct a misunderstanding. It is never to direct your life.
The revelation given through prophets is not revelation apart from the Bible, but revelation of the Word of God. Teachers, on the other hand, are more occupied with understanding the Word of God. They study it, and God gives them understanding so that they may expound and explain the Word of God to us.
These two classes of people, prophets and teachers, may minister both locally and universally. Probably they begin locally and then develop into universal ministry. In any case, there are those who are especially called into the ministry of the Word of God to build the church.
When you come to Acts 13, you find the church in Antioch. The church in Antioch had a marvelous beginning, entirely different from Jerusalem. Because of persecution in Jerusalem, disciples who had come from Hellenistic countries returned to their homelands and brought the gospel of Jesus Christ to their own cities.
They traveled through Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch. Some Greeks who had been converted in Jerusalem began to speak to their own people, the Gentiles. The Lord worked mightily, and many Gentiles were converted.
News came to Jerusalem. By then God had already opened the door of the gospel to the Gentiles through the Apostle Peter, so the Jewish prejudice was not as strong. When the church in Jerusalem heard that the Lord was saving Gentiles in Antioch, they wanted to have fellowship with them.
They did not act as though Jerusalem were a mother church attempting to bring Antioch under its control. Not at all. They simply wanted fellowship and wanted to know what the Lord was doing in other places.
Brothers and sisters, it is most edifying and profitable to know what God is doing in other parts of the world. God is not limited to us here. He is a great God, and He is working all over this world. To know what God is doing enriches us before Him.
Instead of sending apostles, which might have appeared too official and might have created suspicion, they sent Barnabas, the son of consolation. He went, saw what God was doing, and was very happy. He exhorted them all to continue following the Lord.
The Lord continued to add, and Barnabas began to realize that the work was too much for him. He remembered Saul, so he went to Tarsus, found Saul, and brought him back to Antioch. The two of them ministered the Word of God to the people in Antioch for a whole year.
No wonder that church was built by the solid Word of God. The disciples were first called Christians in Antioch. They were Christ-men. Christ was all to them.
I remember during wartime, when the Lord brought my wife and me out of Singapore. By the providence of God, we arrived in Madras. A year before, God had started a work there.
A dear brother, Brother Buxing, had been saved in Canada. After receiving his degree, he felt that God called him back to India to preach the gospel. He returned home and began preaching, and many people were saved. He traveled throughout India preaching the gospel.
But when he returned to certain cities, he found that many who had been saved had disappeared. The so-called churches in those cities were traditional and had no life; they could not care for the new believers. He did not know what to do.
After several years, he was perplexed. He went to a hill to wait upon the Lord and seek what the Lord really wanted him to do. Two brothers from England, an elderly lady from England, and Brother Buxing prayed every morning for several months, simply seeking the Lord.
As they sought the Lord, God revealed to Brother Buxing what he should do. He went down from the hill and began the work in Madras.
The two brothers from England remained with those brethren for a whole year. They had two meetings a day. Before people went to work, they came to hear the Word of God. After work, they returned to hear the Word of God. They literally met twice daily for a whole year.
When I visited during wartime, many people had already dispersed because of the blackout, but there were still about two hundred people there. They went into the streets every day to preach the gospel. What a testimony, brothers and sisters.
So in Antioch, you find that the church must have been strengthened by the ministry of the Word. They were first called Christians. Christ was all to them.
Through the years, God raised up other people into local ministry. In Acts 13, there were five prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen, the foster brother of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.
These five prophets and teachers were not elders of the church in Antioch. Their work was to minister the Word of God to the church in Antioch.
Here is the most beautiful thing: at that moment, you do not find them merely ministering to the house of God. You find them ministering to the Lord.
You can minister to the house of God—that is, minister to God’s people—but unless you also minister to the Lord, unless you minister to the Lord first, your ministry to the people will not be effective.
These five were ministering unto the Lord, waiting upon the Lord, seeking to receive the mind of the Lord, and seeking to know what the Lord wanted to say to His people.
As they waited together, the Holy Spirit said:
Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.
The five prophets and teachers in Antioch represent local ministry. They were ministering to the local church in Antioch. Out of that ministry, God set apart two for apostolic work. It was from that church that apostles were developed.
First, these five ministered to the local church, not to the universal church. But as they ministered locally, God sent two prophets and teachers out to minister to the universal church. We do not find the other three traveling to different cities to minister the Word of God.
What was the gift of the Apostle Paul? We say that apostle is an office, a commission, but an apostle must have gifts. In 2 Timothy 1:11, Paul refers to himself as a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles. So probably his gift was teaching.
In Ephesians 3, Paul says that he received revelation concerning the mystery of Christ. So he may have been a prophet also. He may have had both the gift of teaching and the gift of prophecy.
As to Barnabas, he was called the son of consolation. In other words, he could exhort and encourage. Most likely, he had a teaching gift. In any case, these two people were sent out to do the work to which God had called them.
Now we want to limit ourselves to the ministry of the Word in local assemblies.
We know something about Barnabas. If you go back to Acts 4, you find that the believers in Jerusalem gathered together in one accord. How they loved one another and cared for one another. What a testimony they had.
Because many Jews had come from all over the world for Pentecost and had remained in Jerusalem after being saved, there were tremendous physical needs. Barnabas, whose Jewish name was Joseph, was a Levite from Cyprus, a Hellenistic Jew. He had possessions in Jerusalem, so he sold them and laid the money at the apostles’ feet to support the widows and others in need.
The apostles called him Barnabas, the son of consolation, because he was used by God to console, comfort, and help many brothers and sisters. His shepherding and teaching ministry was already being manifested while he was in Jerusalem.
The second was Simeon, called Niger. We do not know his background, except that Niger means black. He may have come from Africa. Yet there he was, raised by God as a prophet or teacher in the church in Antioch.
Then there was Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch. Manaen must have come from a very noble family. Finally, there was Saul, whose background we know a little better.
These five came from very different backgrounds, different races, and different upbringings. Yet they served together as one. Very beautiful. Through their ministry, the church in Antioch grew continually.
Brothers and sisters, we would like to know: how does local ministry develop? We acknowledge that there is a tremendous need today in local assemblies everywhere for the ministry of the Word. But how does it develop?
In Antioch, at least we know two of these men. Let us use them as examples. We know Barnabas. Barnabas was a Levite, and being born a Levite, he was supposed to serve in the temple in Jerusalem.
From childhood, he must have been trained for such service. He must have been acquainted with temple service, with the Torah, with the prophets, and with the Psalms. He had been prepared for that purpose.
We do not know whether he was among the three thousand who were saved on the day of Pentecost, but probably he was. After he believed in the Lord Jesus, with new light and new life, his understanding of the Word of God greatly increased. He was able to use the Word of God to comfort, exhort, and encourage God’s people.
Even before he was saved, God had already made preparation. Brothers and sisters, even before we were born—in fact, before the foundation of the world—we were chosen in Christ Jesus. Even while we were in our mother’s womb, God had already set us apart.
All the days and years before we were saved, everything that happened in our lives before we were saved, we may not understand. But God knows. He was preparing us for something of His will for us.
After a person is saved, what God prepared beforehand begins to be manifested. Of course, all the past must go through death and resurrection before God can use it.
Consider Moses. God’s hand was upon Moses as a little baby. God preserved his life and placed him in the palace to learn all the learning of Egypt. He was mighty in words and deeds.
But when he was forty, he thought it was time for him to look after his Hebrew brethren, help them, deliver them, and save them. He tried to use his speech and his fist to save his own brother, but he was rejected. He had to flee for his life.
For forty years in the wilderness, he had to unlearn everything he had learned. When he was eighty, he said, “I cannot speak,” and that was true. “Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh?” He was no longer that great man.
Yet, brothers and sisters, what happened during those forty years was not lost. It went through death and resurrection, and God used him to lead two million people—men, women, children, and a mixed multitude—for forty years in the wilderness.
If Moses had not received the training in the palace of Egypt, where he learned how to govern the greatest empire in the world at that time, how could he have led such a multitude? But, of course, it all had to go through death and resurrection.
Whatever God has given you, even before you were saved, may be for God’s use. But it must go through death and resurrection. Otherwise, you will use it for your own glory and do disservice to God instead of service to God.
God had already prepared a vessel for that purpose. Then consider Saul of Tarsus. He was trained in Jerusalem at the feet of Gamaliel, the greatest rabbi of that time. Saul became a Pharisee, a Pharisee of the Pharisees. He knew the Old Testament by heart.
Unfortunately, he was blinded by Jewish tradition. He thought that Jesus was an impostor and that His followers needed to be persecuted. He put his whole strength into wiping out the followers of Jesus until the Lord met him on the road to Damascus.
Immediately, his whole being was turned. In Acts 9, after his eyes were opened and he was baptized, he immediately began to preach that Jesus is the Christ. The One whom he had persecuted was the Messiah.
Chronologically, there is a period of about three years not recorded between Acts 9:21 and Acts 9:22. After being saved on the road to Damascus, Saul immediately proclaimed that Jesus was the Son of God because he had met Him.
Then he left Damascus and spent about three years in Arabia, in the desert. You find this in Galatians 1. Perhaps he went to Mount Sinai. He had to study the Word of God again in the light of the Lord Jesus.
He knew the Old Testament by heart, but he did not have the right light. He had read it all wrongly. Now he had to go back and spend about three years alone before God, letting the Holy Spirit teach him anew concerning Christ Jesus in the Word of God.
After three years, he returned to Damascus. He began to reason with the people and declare, “Jesus is the Christ.” He proved it from the Old Testament Scriptures.
He became too fervent, and he had to be let down in a basket over the wall. He fled and went to Jerusalem. But he had a very bad name among the believers in Jerusalem because he had persecuted them.
Nobody dared to have contact with him. He wanted fellowship with believers. He knew that he could not be alone; he wanted to be with brothers and sisters. But nobody dared to receive him.
Barnabas believed in him. He brought him to the apostles, and Saul began to go in and out among the disciples. Again, he reasoned with people concerning the Lord Jesus. Again, he became too fervent, and finally the brethren in Jerusalem had to send him away.
They sent him back to Tarsus. What was he doing there? If you read Galatians, you know that he was not idle. He traveled in Cilicia and Syria, preaching Jesus Christ. The believers in Judea had not seen him, but they heard that he who once persecuted them was now preaching the faith which he once destroyed.
The development of ministry requires God’s preparation, the illumination of His Word, fellowship with the body, and the working of death and resurrection in the servant of God.