Lord, every time we think about You, on the one hand we rejoice; on the other hand, we fear and tremble. We rejoice because You are such a Lord, full of mercy and lovingkindness. We see You and tremble because, before You, we fall short.
Lord, so we come before You again. We prostrate ourselves before Your feet and ask You to enlighten us and support us with Your grace, so that from now on we may be found pleasing to You. There is only one vision in our hearts: to please You. We have only one hope: that You would have a way in us.
We hope and wish that You will not forsake us, but use us, that in Your hand we may become useful vessels. Lord, we thank You and praise You. We commit this time fully into Your hand. Lord, we praise You and pray that You speak to us in Your precious name.
Yesterday we had a little fellowship and reviewed something concerning the church and the work—the essence of the church and the work. In other words, after a certain period of time, there is a need for us to return to the Lord, to again allow Him to examine us and remind us, so that we will not forget what we are here for.
So we thank the Lord for allowing us the opportunity yesterday to fellowship in this aspect. Whether regarding the church or our work, we need to have the heavenly vision. Without a heavenly vision, we do not have a direction or a goal; neither do we have the strength.
Sometimes God has mercy on us so that we gain His vision. But as we serve Him, many times we are distracted by our own things, so that we become obscured toward this heavenly vision. Then our service on the earth becomes distorted. Therefore, there is a need for us often to return to the Lord, so that in a real way before Him we may see what the church is.
All those who serve in the church need to ask: What is the church, after all? We all have a portion in the work, but what are the things we do every day, every week, and every month for? Do we serve out of ourselves, or do we serve fully out of our Lord to accomplish His purpose?
These are the questions we need to ask after a certain period of time. We need to review and return to the Lord, to be still before Him, so that He would again remind us within.
This morning, we would like to fellowship, remind one another, and encourage one another concerning the relationship between the church and the work. Yesterday we mentioned the essence of the church and the work: What is the church? Why is there a need for the church? What is the work? How should we carry the work?
Today we need to consider the relationship between these two. Or, in other words, concerning the heavenly vision, how do we carry it out? First of all, we are simply reviewing. I believe brothers and sisters already know these things; we are here only to remind one another.
First of all, what we need to see is that the work is for the church. In Scripture, this is a very important principle.
Today on the earth, we often discover a condition: we have replaced the church with our work. Or, put another way, the work becomes our goal instead of the church. Rather than the work being for the building of the church, the church becomes a means to maintain the work.
Suppose we are working here. What do we work for? The work is for the church; the church is not for the work. I believe there is a great difference.
If the church is for the work, then the church becomes a platform for the work. In many places, we have seen that the existence of the church, or the meeting of the saints, is for the support of a ministry, rather than the ministry being there for the purpose of building the church.
The result is that the church supports the ministry, and the work replaces the church. In this way, it loses what God wants to gain in His heart. What God wants to gain is His church, the Body of Christ, the Lamb’s counterpart. This is what the Lord is after. The work is merely for the accomplishment of that purpose.
Therefore, if we take the work and make it the main purpose, while the church becomes something to support and maintain the work, then the church has become a platform. Thereby we lose God’s heart’s desire.
We need often to remind one another of this point. Today, are we working merely to achieve a certain kind of work, or are we working fully for the purpose that God may gain His church?
In the Book of Acts, we see clearly that there was a group of apostles who began in Jerusalem and continued to the end of Acts, where Paul is found in the city of Rome. All their work, all their ministries, and all the apostles’ labor were not for the purpose of building their own ministry.
They were not building their own activity or their own territories. Rather, all their work was for the building of God’s house, God’s church.
In Jerusalem, we see the twelve apostles. After the Lord had trained them for several years, they manifested their functions. They were there to serve, helping to build the church. They were not there to bring people into their own ministries or their own works. Rather, they brought people into God’s house, God’s church, and faithfully served them.
Then we see Paul and Barnabas. As they went out to work, they did the same thing. Wherever they went, their work was altogether for the church, not for themselves.
Paul produced churches through his labor, but those churches did not belong to Paul; they belonged to God. Other apostles, teachers, and ministers of God could build upon the foundation that Paul had established.
Paul said that he planted and Apollos watered. Yet Paul never said, “This is my work. This is my territory. This is my kingdom, my domain. Other ministries cannot enter into my domain.” Rather, Paul was willing for Barnabas or Apollos to go to Corinth.
Paul did not have even one iota of thought to build his own work. He was altogether for God’s house, God’s church. So today, whatever we do and wherever we go, we need to remember one thing: the work is for the church; the church is not for the work.
The work derives its existence for the church, and the church does not exist for the work. I believe this is very clear.
In God’s Word, we also see that there is an intimate relationship between the church and the work. The church is different from the work, but the church cannot be fully separated from the work.
We cannot mix the church and the work together, nor can we completely separate the work from the church. When we mix up the church with the work, the result is that the church becomes something for the work. Then the work no longer serves the church.
We have to see that the church is different from the work, though they are not fully separated either. Why? Because the church and the work cooperate, but they are not one entity. The Bible shows us that the church and the work are two entities.
These two entities should cooperate. Only under this cooperation can we see the work develop and the church established.
The relationship between the church and the work is intimate, but intimacy does not remove their distinction. They are still different.
For instance, we see Paul and Barnabas. As God sent them forth from Antioch, these two apostles went forward to different places, preaching the gospel of God. They went to Galatia and worked in many different cities.
As groups of people were saved, the apostles assembled them together. Then Paul and Barnabas went to another place. After a certain period of time—perhaps a couple of years—they returned and revisited the brothers and sisters.
As they revisited these brothers and sisters, Acts 14 shows us that they discovered among them a group who seemed to be seeking the Lord more and knowing the Lord more than the others. Not that they were perfected, but they were a little more advanced.
Therefore, spontaneously, these brothers and sisters in the church had already borne certain spiritual responsibility. The Holy Spirit had already manifested these persons. Paul and Barnabas merely confirmed them and appointed them as elders to govern the churches locally.
From the Word of God, we see that the producing of the church is a result of the work of the apostles. Realistically speaking, there are two ways for the producing of the church in Scripture.
One way is through the apostles going to many places to work, with the result that churches are produced. The churches in Galatia, Corinth, and Ephesus are examples of churches that resulted from the work.
We also see another way in which churches are produced: not through apostles going out to work, but through brothers and sisters themselves going to other places and bringing the gospel with them.
At that time, we see the church in Jerusalem meeting together for a number of years. Because they were meeting together and it was so good, they were unwilling to leave one another.
The Lord raised up persecution to disperse them into many places, because God’s desire was that they would go from Jerusalem to Judea, to Samaria, and to the remotest part of the earth to testify of the Lord.
But the saints in Jerusalem had it so good that they were unwilling to leave. As far as God’s commission was concerned, they neglected it. Therefore, God used persecution to scatter them. Scripture says that the brothers and sisters were scattered abroad, while the twelve apostles remained in Jerusalem.
Wherever the brothers and sisters went, they brought God’s gospel to that place. As a result, some churches began, not as the result of apostolic work, but as the result of brothers and sisters being used by God to raise up the churches.
For instance, the church in Antioch was a clear example. It was the result of brothers and sisters who had been persecuted and scattered abroad.
They not only preached the gospel to the Greek-speaking Jews, but also preached the gospel to the Greeks. So God worked greatly, and the church was raised up.
The church in Jerusalem heard about God’s work in Antioch, and they sent Barnabas to visit them. I believe this is very beautiful, because they did not send apostles to Antioch.
If apostles had been sent to Antioch, people might have misunderstood and thought that the church in Jerusalem was the parent church, coming to take over Antioch and bring it under its jurisdiction. Praise the Lord, this did not happen.
Instead, they sent Barnabas. Barnabas was a Grecian Jew, born in Greece rather than Palestine. Neither was he an apostle; he was simply a brother who loved the Lord. He was called the son of consolation.
In other words, Barnabas possessed a heart of love and consolation. Since the Jews and the Gentiles had very different characteristics, he was sent to visit them—not to take over, but to help.
When Barnabas went there and saw God’s work, he felt inadequate. Therefore, he went to Tarsus and sought out Saul. The two of them spent one year helping the local brothers and sisters with God’s Word.
The producing of the church in Antioch was not the result of apostolic work. It was the result of faithful brothers and sisters preaching God’s Word. Afterwards, they received help from Paul and Barnabas.
In Acts 13, we see that in the church in Antioch there were prophets and teachers. They were there to help and to be responsible for the ministry of the Word locally. They were not apostles; they were prophets and teachers for local service.
As they ministered to the Lord, the Holy Spirit separated two out of the group—Paul and Barnabas—to do the work to which He had called them. At that time, Paul and Barnabas became apostles. In today’s language, we may call them workers.
So we see that the church produces apostles, and apostles establish churches. In Antioch, the church produced apostles.
Some insist that without apostles there can be no church. They say that a group of brothers and sisters may meet together and pursue the Lord, but without an apostle it cannot be considered a church. This is a misconception.
Antioch clearly shows us that not only was it not established by apostles, but apostles were produced out of the church in Antioch.
So there are two ways by which God establishes churches: through apostles, or workers, and their work; and through brothers and sisters who scatter abroad and serve faithfully, thereby producing the church.
The apostles’ attitude toward the church was not that they treated it as their own property. We remember that the Lord said in Matthew 16:
I will build My church upon this rock;
and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
Therefore, the church belongs to the Lord. It does not belong to the workers, nor does it belong to the apostles.
In Corinth, some said, “I belong to Paul,” “I belong to Apollos,” “I belong to Cephas,” and even, “I belong to Christ.” But Paul asked:
Was Paul crucified for you?
Were ye baptized into the name of Paul?
Paul did not consider the church to be his church. Rather, he reminded the brothers and sisters that the church belongs to Christ.
Paul also said that the servants belonged to the saints: Paul belonged to them, Apollos belonged to them, and Cephas belonged to them. All things were for them; they were Christ’s, and Christ was God’s. Thus, all the work is for the church.
No worker can claim, “This is the result of my work, so this church belongs to me.” There is no such thing.
Because the church belongs to Christ, it can receive all of God’s ministries. Otherwise, the church becomes one that can receive only one ministry.
For instance, if a church were regarded as the result of Paul’s work in a possessive sense, it might receive only Paul’s ministry and reject Apollos’ ministry. But if the work is for the church, then the church can receive all the ministries God has given to it.
In this way, the riches of the church are greatly enriched. Even Paul’s ministry was not all-inclusive. God loves the church and desires that it receive the all-inclusive supply. Therefore, He gives different gifts to cherish and nourish the church, and He uses all ministries to build up the church.
This is the point of departure in considering the church and the work. Though they are different, they cannot be separated. The church must receive the service of all God’s ministries and cannot reject any minister whom God has given.
The church in Corinth had a problem in this regard. Although it was established through Paul’s work, some seemed to reject Paul’s ministry. Apparently, they thought Cephas was more established because he was among the twelve apostles. Thus, some rejected Paul’s apostleship and his supply.
Yet Paul did not claim absolute authority over the church in Corinth simply because it had been established through his ministry.
Before a church is established, and while it is in its infancy, the church may be produced through the work. At such a stage, it often appears that the worker bears all the responsibilities.
For instance, in the beginning of the church in Jerusalem, the twelve apostles bore all responsibilities. Even serving tables was their responsibility. But because of this, problems arose.
The Hellenistic widows were neglected in the daily distribution. This was not because the twelve apostles showed favoritism. They were Hebrew believers and did not fully understand the needs of the Hellenistic believers.
No matter how capable, faithful, or diligent the apostles were, when there were ten or twenty thousand saints, they could not preach, pray, and care for every practical matter all by themselves. This was not God’s original intention.
God used this problem to show the apostles that they were not capable of doing everything. There was a need for brothers to be raised up. Thus, seven brothers, full of the Holy Spirit and of good reputation, were raised up to care for the tables, so that the apostles could devote themselves to prayer and the ministry of the Word.
When responsibilities were distributed in this way, we see that God’s Word increased greatly.
Later, there were elders in the church in Jerusalem. When Paul and Barnabas brought the support of the Gentile saints to Jerusalem, it was given to the elders. The church had become established, and a group of brothers had been raised up by the Holy Spirit to bear the responsibility of eldership and govern the local church.
Thus, the apostles devoted their attention to the work and no longer took care of the affairs of the church in the same administrative way.
The church in Jerusalem was unique. It was not only a local assembly; in a sense, it was also a center of work. Therefore, some apostles were among the elders, though not all apostles were elders.
Peter was an elder, and John also became an elder. They bore two responsibilities: they were apostles, and at the same time they were elders. But the other apostles did not do this.
If every apostle became an elder, then because all the apostles supplied the ministry of the Word, they would eventually become the chief elders. Then the work would again control the church.
In other churches, this was not the condition. The churches in Galatia and Corinth did not have such a problem. In the infancy of the work, workers may seem to bear all responsibilities; but when the church has become more or less established, they should relinquish responsibility to the local brothers.
In Ephesians 4, we see that our Lord resurrected and ascended, and He gave gifts to men. He gave four kinds of people to His church: apostles, prophets, evangelists, and shepherds and teachers.
The word often translated “pastors” should more accurately be translated “shepherds.” These four kinds of people are connected with the ministry of the Word. We may say they are ministers of the Word, and they minister God’s Word to the church.
Why did God give these ministries to the church? The Bible tells us: for the perfecting of the saints. Their work is to perfect the saints through the supply of God’s Word.
This perfecting has two meanings. One is that the saints would mature in life through the supply of God’s Word. The other is that they would be equipped so they can use the gifts God has given them.
Because the saints are members of the Body of Christ, every member has received some gift according to God’s grace. The apostles and other ministers are there to help them function, develop, manifest their gifts, and have opportunity to develop their functions.
These are the goals of the ministries of these four kinds of gifts. As they perfect the saints, we see in Ephesians 4:
For the perfecting of the saints,
unto the work of ministering,
unto the building up of the body of Christ.
The phrase “the work of ministering” shows us that the perfected saints are to do the ministry. It does not mean that the four kinds of people in Ephesians 4:11 are to do all the work of ministry.
The perfecting of the saints is for the work of ministry, and that ministry does not refer merely to the ministry of the previous four kinds of people. It refers to the ministry of the Body—the Body ministry.
Today, in the Body of Christ, there are many members. As these members are perfected, mature, and equipped, they work and function in their respective capacities. The ministry mentioned in Ephesians 4:12 is the Body ministry, not merely the ministry of the workers.
The members fulfill their ministry unto the building up of the Body of Christ. In other words, the direct building up of the Body is accomplished through the members in the Body. The workers do an indirect work of building by perfecting the saints.
Greek scholars, such as Lightfoot and others, acknowledge that the work of ministry in Ephesians 4:12 does not refer merely to the four kinds of people previously mentioned, but to the Body.
Today God’s servants work for the perfecting of the saints. When the saints are perfected, they spontaneously rise up unto the work of ministry and unto the building up of the Body of Christ.
Our brother Nee taught us in this way: when you go out to work, it is like building a house. You have to set up scaffolding. Once the house is built, the scaffolding is torn down.
In other words, the success or failure of your work hinges on whether you work to the extent that you become unemployed. When you become unemployed, your work is successful.
If the brothers and sisters always have to rely upon you, and you cannot become unemployed, then you are in utter failure.
Recently, I saw that Hudson Taylor said something similar. He said that our work is merely to build a scaffold. Praise the Lord, Hudson Taylor saw this even in his day.
The China Inland Mission was merely a scaffold. But later, the missionaries within the China Inland Mission did not see this. They encountered difficulties because missionaries took full control of the work and were unwilling to relinquish it and turn it over to the Chinese local believers.
They did not see that they were merely a scaffold. Once the church is built, it should be turned over to the local people.
During the Sino-Japanese War, the director of the China Inland Mission was Bishop Frank Houghton. He desired to turn over the missions to the Chinese, but younger coworkers opposed him.
When the political situation changed in China, many of their churches were without leaders because they had remained under the controlling hands of missionaries. What God has shown in His Word is very clear and very precious.
This is only one example. In the beginning, the apostles’ work was like this: they would go to a place and work. In the infancy, it seemed as though they did everything, but their work was to build up the saints.
As the saints were raised up and manifested by the Holy Spirit, the workers relinquished the ruling and governing responsibility to the local brothers. They no longer bore the administrative responsibility.
Of course, workers still maintain spiritual responsibility. It is like parents: when children are grown, parents should allow them to become independent. They should not always control the children, though their hearts toward them remain very intimate.
Paul was like this toward the church in Corinth. He was there for a year and six months. Once he left Corinth, the church in Corinth became independent and bore its own responsibility.
But they had problems. Paul, as a parent, had a heavy heart, so he wrote them a letter. Even when Paul wrote the epistle, he exercised spiritual authority, but he did not have administrative authority.
Paul could not give an order to excommunicate the sinner. He could only show them that such a person should be excommunicated and that they should, according to their conscience, deal with the problem.
He could not directly deal with the matter. He could only use spiritual authority to touch their conscience, so that the local brothers would see their neglect in dealing with the matter and rise up to address it.
Before the church is established, it may be under the care of the work. But once the church is established, the scaffold should be torn down. The worker may stand alongside and help through spiritual supply in the Word, but should never directly interfere.
If the worker directly interferes, the church will never become independent. God’s Word shows us clearly that all local assemblies are independent. There is no control by other churches, parent churches, or branch churches.
Every local assembly is independent. No work or ministry should control any church.
On the other hand, the church should not say that because it has been established, it can cut off the workers: “We do not need you anymore. We do not receive you anymore.”
The church should maintain humility, realizing that it still needs the help of the ministry. It should never come to the point of saying, “We are fully independent. We do not need the work. We are completely separate from the work.”
The church is different from the work, but it is not separate from the work. They need to support one another and live for one another.
The church in Corinth was abnormal in its relationship toward the worker and the work. Paul’s relationship toward Corinth was normal. He knew how to care for the church. He even wept as he exhorted them.
Though some wanted to reject him and disavow his apostleship, Paul would not justify himself. He showed them the spiritual office they could not fully reject. Paul’s relationship toward Corinth was clear and right, but Corinth’s relationship toward Paul was abnormal.
Not only did some fail to acknowledge Paul’s apostleship and want to reject his supply, but the church in Corinth did not support Paul materially. Paul was not willing to receive their gift.
It is right for workers to receive material support. Churches that receive the help of ministry should rise up to maintain and support the livelihood needs of workers. This is needful.
However, workers sent by God should never look to the church to support them. If a worker looks to the church for support, he becomes an employee of the church. He is then controlled by the church rather than being sent by God.
The one whom God sends, God will be responsible for. A worker should always look directly to the Lord and should never look to brothers and sisters with an ulterior expectation. We are not employees of men.
Neither does Scripture show us that the church sends out workers. Even in Antioch, it was the Holy Spirit who sent Paul and Barnabas, not the church.
Nor was it the church as an institution that laid hands on them. Those brothers who had served with them laid hands on them. In other words, they had formerly worked together, and now the Lord had sent Paul and Barnabas out. The others identified with them in fellowship.
The church never sends workers out in the sense of controlling them, because workers are sent by God alone. If the church could send them out, then the church could control them. But because they are sent by God, the church cannot control them; it is the Holy Spirit who sends them.
On the church’s side, what relationship should the church have with the work? Since the church has received spiritual help, it should support workers in material things. This is the church’s responsibility.
Workers should not look to the church, but the church should know its responsibility.
Paul’s relationship with the church in Philippi was different. That relationship was very normal.
Paul was sent by God from Asia Minor across the sea into Europe. The church in Philippi was the first church in Europe. Paul, Silas, and Timothy served there, and the church was raised up.
If you read the letter to the Philippians, you see Paul saying that from the first day until then they had fellowship together in the advancement of the gospel.
Even when Paul was in prison, the saints in Philippi were of one heart in advancing the gospel. This is very precious. They supported the work.
The work is different from the church, but it is not separate from the church. The Philippian saints supported the work not only spiritually, but economically as well.
When Paul went to Thessalonica, they sent support again and again. When Paul was in prison in Rome, they still sent supplies to support him.
They did not send only financial support. They also sent Epaphroditus to serve Paul. He became sick, and was unable to fulfill the service in the way intended. When he recovered, Paul sent Epaphroditus back.
The relationship was very normal. When the relationship between the church and the work is normal, it should have this kind of condition. When it is abnormal, it is like Corinth.
The workers do not belong to the church; they belong to the Lord. The church cannot regard workers as its property.
Yet although workers do not belong to the church, workers cannot be separated from the church either.
Today, especially in America, a preacher may come out of seminary and begin looking for a job. Usually he will not go immediately to a large church. Often he goes to the countryside to serve in a small church and receives a salary.
If he works faithfully and God blesses his preaching, his fame spreads. Then, after a few years, large churches in the cities may hire him, and his financial support becomes better.
If that person becomes a pastor in a large church, he rules the church. What is the pastoral system? It is a group of Christians saying, “We need one person to bear all our responsibility.”
Everything is done by that person, while the rest can sit and listen. They put up some money to support him and say, “You serve us.” All the affairs in the church are carried by the pastor.
People say, “We are too busy. We have so many things in the world. We cannot possibly have time to read the Bible well or pursue the Lord. We do not know the Word of God. Since you graduated from seminary, you are the expert. You have been trained. You bear the responsibility. You do everything for us.”
Not only does the pastor preach, but he visits people and takes care of many mundane chores. Others say, “We are too busy to do these things. You have time. You do not have another job, so everything is upon your shoulders.”
In this way, the work becomes united with the church and the two become one. This is totally unscriptural.
Later, as the pastor becomes more famous, people everywhere want him. He relinquishes responsibility to assistant pastors, and eventually people do not see him anymore because he is too busy traveling.
In the end, he is no longer a local pastor. He devotes his full time to becoming a conference speaker. He goes everywhere preaching. Because of the greatness of his fame and gift, he is no longer shepherding a church, but has become a roaming minister.
This is a condition in America. In the eyes of men, he may be successful, but what relationship does such a person have with the church?
He is separated from the church. He has no church life to speak of. In a practical sense, he has lost his place of living as a member in the Body of Christ.
These four ministries are in the Body, but those who exercise them must remain members in the Body. Otherwise, they lose the position and living of being members in the Body. This is a great danger—really a great danger.
Paul, when he went out to work, returned after a period of time to Antioch. He had roots; he was not without roots.
We must see that the worker cannot be completely cut off from the church. A worker, even though he is a servant of God, is still a brother or a sister.
Regardless of where you are, you should have roots. Peter’s roots were in Jerusalem; Paul’s roots were in Antioch. At any rate, we should have roots.
What is the good of having roots? On the one hand, there is a group of brothers and sisters there to support you. You are not a lone ranger. They will pray for you and support you.
On the other hand, you cannot simply roam everywhere. You need to settle in one place. In that place, you must be a brother or a sister. In the work, you are a worker; but in the church, you are a brother or a sister.
Today, many workers no longer know how to be a brother or a sister. Even in the church, they do not know how to be a brother or a sister. In the church, they still want to be a worker. This is a problem.
Those of us who serve must remember this. In the work, you have a direct relationship with the Lord. The church cannot control your work, though you should fellowship with the church because you are a brother or a sister.
But when you are in the church, do not consider yourself a worker as though you are unique. You are still a common brother or a common sister. You must obey the responsible brothers in the local assembly.
You must have a home in a local assembly. You cannot be without a home. In your home assembly, you are a brother or a sister.
At the same time, if the church needs your help, you may render some help in the ministry of the Word. But you do not come and take over the church, so that everything becomes yours—preaching, ruling, and administration.
Brothers and sisters, we can never do such a thing. The work and the church must be different, but they cannot be separated. This is very needful.
Those of us who serve in the church, especially those who are elders, need to consider this. If a church is established, certainly the Holy Spirit will raise up and manifest some brothers to fulfill the function of elders.
The elders in the church are to rule and administrate God’s house. In the Bible, there are no universal elders in the local-church sense. In Revelation, there are twenty-four elders, but in the local assemblies there are only local elders.
Being an elder in one locality does not mean that when you go to another place you automatically become an elder there. That is not necessary. You are local.
Because a brother is more mature, older, and more advanced in a local assembly, he may lead and help the others go forward. Therefore, he becomes an elder in that local assembly. Elders are always local.
You cannot borrow an elder from another locality. The elder is produced locally. There is no such thing as borrowing an elder from another assembly.
Elders are local in nature because they know the condition of the local saints and know how to serve them. In reality, the elders are the most diligent. They are not there to sit on top and give orders; they are truly servants of all the brothers and sisters.
If an elder is not progressing spiritually while other brothers and sisters pursue spiritual things, a problem develops. Formerly he may have been more advanced, but now others may have advanced beyond him.
If he still holds on to his position merely because he is an elder, seeking to rule over others, the church cannot go forward. It becomes a problem.
The Bible does not show us how to terminate eldership. If elders sin, then they can be dealt with. But if they do not sin, what do you do?
The Bible does not tell us the term of eldership—whether it is three years, five years, or forever. Scripture does not show us this.
Are elders set up by apostles in such a way that the apostles have authority to terminate the eldership because they appointed them? If this were the case, the church would never become independent.
The church would always fall into the hands of the worker. If the elders whom a worker appointed did not listen to him, he could terminate them, leaving only those who listened to and were controlled by him. Then the work and the church would become one again, and there would be mixture.
Under these circumstances, what do we do? I would like to fellowship my personal feeling, because I feel that this is a real problem among us.
Although the Bible shows us that some apostles appointed elders, it does not show us that all elders were appointed by apostles. In other words, apostles appointing elders was merely one way; it was not the only way.
Suppose in one place there is a group of brothers and sisters meeting together, but there is no apostle among them. This does not mean that in that church there are no brothers who can take the lead.
Wherever a group of brothers and sisters meets, after some time the Holy Spirit will spontaneously manifest some brothers who are able to stand in leadership. They are more diligent, and when brothers and sisters have problems, they go to these brothers.
This shows that the Holy Spirit has manifested them. When apostles appoint elders, they merely confirm what the Holy Spirit has already appointed.
In Acts 20, Paul said to the elders in Ephesus:
Take heed unto yourselves, and to all the flock,
in which the Holy Spirit hath made you overseers.
It is the Holy Spirit who appoints overseers, not the apostles. Apostles, having spiritual discernment, see whom the Holy Spirit has already appointed and merely come to confirm it.
What is this confirmation for? In my personal feeling, it is for brothers and sisters who are not spiritual. Those who are spiritual are already clear inwardly. They know whom the Holy Spirit has appointed.
But fleshly brothers and sisters do not see. When an apostle comes to confirm those whom the Holy Spirit has manifested, they may then say, “These are the elders; therefore, I will obey.”
So this confirmation is for the sake of unspiritual brothers and sisters, to give them some help. In reality, if you truly reverence and fear God, you generally do not need such a formal confirmation.
My personal feeling from studying Scripture is that the appointment of elders is done by the Holy Spirit. Apostles merely come to confirm. Sometimes there is no need for confirmation; in some places there is confirmation. But every assembly will have elders in function.
What about today? The condition is different. As far as the church is concerned, the church has degraded and has been in ruin. God’s children are scattered everywhere.
Formerly, elders were local, and their service was to serve the local saints. But today, in one locality, God’s children are scattered everywhere.
There are different denominations and so-called independent groups. God’s children are scattered everywhere, and even in one locality there are many divisions.
Therefore, in the way of God’s recovery, can we recover the so-called outward arrangement? This is a great dilemma.
On the way of recovery, what is God recovering? Is He recovering the inward spiritual reality, or is He recovering the original outward formality? This is something we need to know before the Lord and seek before the Lord.
According to the viewpoint of men, to recover the original outward condition is impossible—absolutely impossible.
In the beginning, in Jerusalem there was only one church. All God’s children were one. The elders in the church in Jerusalem were one eldership, one unit, to administer the church in Jerusalem.
But today, to recover that kind of outward condition is impossible. God’s children have been divided into all kinds of groups, and every group has its own leaders.
How can all these groups be combined in order to establish one group of leaders or elders to administer all the brothers and sisters? This is absolutely impossible.
In my reading of Scripture, I feel that in the way of recovery, God is recovering spiritual reality, not outward formality.
In other words, we need to recover the testimony of oneness. But we have no way to combine all the groups together, dissolve all the groups, and bring them under one group in order to set up the so-called local church in a certain place. It is impossible.
Today’s so-called ecumenical movement says that because we are one in Christ, we need to combine all the groups together. Yet it maintains all the groups and merely unites them organizationally.
This is not the oneness for which the Lord is looking. In John 17, the oneness is the oneness of the Son and the Father. The oneness between the Father and the Son is in spirit; it is spiritual.
Because there is spiritual oneness, then we may have our oneness. It is not a federated oneness.
Even if we outwardly unite groups together, that is still not the inward reality. Inwardly, we need to keep and strive for the oneness in the Spirit.
The same principle applies to the position and titles of elders. We have no way to recover the outward title of elder in the original universal-local sense, because the elders in the Bible were elders of the whole church in a locality, not merely elders of one particular meeting or group.
That outward form cannot be recovered. But we see that the functions of elders are being recovered. In every locality and in every meeting, there can be a group of people who bear responsibility toward God and responsibility toward the saints.
This arises spontaneously and unavoidably. There is no need to give them a title or go through a formality, because the Holy Spirit has already manifested them.
If this is the case, then there is no need to set them up formally, and no need to terminate them formally. According to spiritual condition, if other brothers have gone further, they naturally bear responsibility in the church.
If someone falls behind, naturally he is no longer fulfilling the function in the same way. Thus, spiritual reality can be recovered without insisting upon outward formality.
My personal feeling is that the recovery of outward formality is not possible—not possible.
Even when we read Scripture, we see that as the church comes to the end times, it goes further and further away from God. There is falling away and apostasy.
But, thank God, there is a group of saints who are pure in heart, pursuing the Lord, praying together, and pursuing righteousness, sanctification, and faith.
There is a group of people maintaining the oneness in the Holy Spirit and bearing spiritual responsibility before the Lord. It is like the messengers in the seven letters in Revelation. They bear spiritual responsibility.
They may not have been set up by men at all, but they are the result of the Holy Spirit’s work. In the way of recovery, spiritual reality is there, though outward things may not necessarily be recovered.
I do not know what the brothers and sisters feel. I merely give you a reference point. It shows us the relationship between the church and the work.
In terms of the work, we should know what position we stand upon in relation to the church. In terms of the church, the church should know where she stands and what relationship she has with the work.
These are two entities. They are different, but not severed. They are not one entity, but they need the cooperation of both.
In this way, God’s purpose will be accomplished.
This morning I have fellowshipped only a little, simply as a review. We still have a little time to pray.