Let me illustrate this. Suppose a brother is going to a certain place to work for the Lord, and he only sees that he is going there to help the brothers and sisters to be spiritual. He says, “Oh, the people there are fleshly; I want to go and help them so that they all may become spiritual. I myself have learned the lesson of the cross in a serious way, so when I go to help them, I will also lead them to know and receive the cross. The goal of my work is to lead people to be sculptured by the cross.” Therefore, after this brother goes to that place, he speaks about the cross every day. Since he works in this manner, surely a group of people will be edified by him and will follow him to learn to take the cross every day. However, this brother never helps them to see that being dealt with by the cross is for the building of the church. Hence, although these saints learn lessons of the cross, there will be very little building of the church.

After a while, this brother may go to another place, and another co-worker will come to this place. This newly-arrived one will say, “No one among you has learned the lesson of having fellowship with the Lord, and no one here knows how to live before the Lord. Now that I am here with you, I will help you in the matter of having fellowship with the Lord.” Therefore, the first message he gives is on fellowship, and the second message is still on fellowship; every message is on fellowship. On the platform he tells people that besides fellowship everything is useless. Regardless of the kind of merchandise you sell, there always will be some customers. Therefore, after he has stayed there for a period of time, some brothers and sisters will be helped by him to live daily before the Lord. Then those who previously received the dealing of the cross will say, “How can you have proper fellowship if you only have fellowship but have not been broken?” And those who have just learned the matter of fellowship will say, “How can you be broken without learning the matter of fellowship?” Therefore, everyone will have a problem within. Those who learned to fellowship with the Lord will not respect those who received the dealing of the cross, and those who received the dealing of the cross will have no admiration for those who learned to fellowship with the Lord. Perhaps you would say that it is not possible for those who have truly been broken to show disrespect toward others. In theory this is correct, but in actuality it is quite common for those who have been broken by the cross to not respect others.

Then after another period of time, a brother who specializes in “knowing Christ” will come to this place. He will say, “Oh, merely speaking about fellowship or about the cross will not do, you must know Christ. Only Christ is all and in all. Therefore, we must let Christ have the preeminence in all things.” Hence, he specifically does the work of “knowing Christ.” From the beginning to the end everything is Christ. Eating is Christ. Drinking is Christ. Praying is Christ. Reading the Bible is Christ. Everything is Christ. I say again, regardless of what you sell, some people will buy it. No matter what kind of message you preach, some people will receive it, especially if you speak about a subject as precious as the glorious Christ. Therefore, eventually there will be a third group of people in that place. They will be the ones who receive the messages on knowing Christ. With them, every day is Christ, every moment is Christ, every matter is Christ, and everywhere is Christ, Christ, Christ! However, those who learned the cross will be bothered when they hear about “knowing Christ,” and those who learned the matter of fellowship also will be uncomfortable when they hear about “knowing Christ.” The first group will then criticize them and say, “You have to be dealt with by the cross before you can live out Christ.” The second group will say, “You need to live in fellowship with the Lord, and then you can touch Christ. How can you know Christ outside of fellowship with Him?” Those who pay attention to knowing Christ will then refute these words and say, “The goal of the cross is to gain Christ and fellowship is also for us to gain Christ. Therefore, Christ is the unique goal of everything. Christ is all!”

Here you see how problems arise. I would like to tell you, before these three co-worker brothers went to that locality, the brothers and sisters there were not so clear about many things. They did not know the cross, nor the fellowship with the Lord, nor knowing Christ. All they knew was to serve together. Nevertheless, their serving in ignorance was in harmony, and there was also the Lord’s presence. When you went into their midst, there was warmth, and you felt that the Lord was among them. However, since those three persons with special gifts went there to work for a period of time, that place has three groups of people who have been edified: one in the matter of the cross, a second in the matter of fellowship, and the third in the matter of knowing Christ. However, now when you go into their midst, you have a feeling that it is winter there-everything is cold and withered. While they are breaking the bread, someone who has learned the matter of fellowship stands up to pray, “Lord, now we are having fellowship with You before this table.” But those who have learned the cross do not say amen, neither do those who have learned Christ. After a while, one who emphasizes knowing Christ rises to pray, “Lord, here we see that You are everything. You are the bread, and You are the cup. When we enjoy these things, we enjoy You.” Yet those who have learned fellowship and those who have received the cross neither appreciate this nor say amen. A moment later one of the ones who take the cross also stands up to pray, “O Lord! Here we see Your death. This is an all-inclusive death. We have all died together in You.” However, those who have learned Christ do not say amen, and neither do those who have learned the matter of fellowship. Deadness and coldness are all that you touch there.

Do not think that my illustration is an exaggeration. It is true that some of the co-workers who go out to work have genuinely edified others, but at the same time they have also damaged the church. You may have carved out a little horse or a beautiful little monkey, or you may have produced a few tables and chairs of various sizes, but the house is gone. Originally the materials that you used were beams, doors, windows, and part of the foundation of the house, but you thought that they were too rough and unseemly, so you wanted to give them a little edification. Eventually, while it seems that you have edified the saints, you have also torn down the entire house. You have edified many individual saints, but through your edifying work you have caused the entire church to collapse.

This matter is very serious. I ask you all, did the edification you receive have the building in view or was it merely for your individual spirituality? This is a big question. I also would like to ask the brothers and sisters who are co-workers, when you help people by edifying them, is it for their individual spirituality or for the building of the church? This is also a big question.
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