You must see what the church is. I believe the light is very clear now: The church is everyone being a priest. This type of universal priesthood has been preached for more than a hundred years. From 1828 until today, a period of one hundred twenty years, the eyes of God’s servants have been opened to see that the priesthood is universal. However, even today the priesthood is still not widespread. The church is the Body of Christ. The recovery of this testimony has been going on for more than one hundred years. Of course, within the last ten or more years some have especially seen its spiritual weight. However, in the church it is very possible that the Body of Christ is still merely a doctrine. In actuality we are far from bringing it into the church life.
Therefore, you need to ask God to open your eyes to cause you to know what the Body is. The Body is every member functioning. In the body there is not one member that does not function; likewise, there is not one person who belongs to the Lord who is not a priest serving the Lord. All the members function. All the priests serve.
After you go out, you should completely change the brothers’ and sisters’ way of thinking. Formerly, they thought that there were many workers in the church. Today we need to turn this around and say that everyone in the church is a worker. I have said before and I repeat it today, you have to speak this kind of word until one day everyone understands it inwardly. If the church does not endeavor until everyone in the church is working and everyone in the church is serving, then there is no church. If the whole church rises up to work and serve, you will immediately see the Body of Christ. Everywhere there will be three or five or seven or eight people serving God; you will be able to find the church everywhere.
However, once you have gone down from the mountain, I do not expect you to eliminate the preaching on the Lord’s Day and change immediately. There can be no such thing! It is a matter of working until we reach that point.
I do not know if you have seen this vision. Let me tell you how wonderful it would be if one day in the mind of God’s children there was no thought of attending worship services. We could eliminate this manner of listening to messages and, instead, have the entire church serve according to God’s word in the Bible. The Lord’s Day mornings would be for all the priests to serve man, and the Lord’s Day evenings would be for all the priests to serve God. On the Lord’s Day mornings whether or not you go to a meeting would not matter. It would also be acceptable to change the day of the gospel meeting to another day. The Lord’s Day mornings should always be for the priests to go and serve man; everyone must serve man. On the Lord’s Day evening everyone should serve God, offering up sacrifices. When you see such a people, then the church will be as it should be. When you can see that all the believers, once they are saved, are for the Lord, have the thought of saving others, and are working and caring for people, then you can really see the church.
Once a person is saved, he should always consider whom he should bring to salvation. Once a person is saved, he should be one who works; once a person is saved, he should be one who testifies. I do not know whether or not you have seen this. We must lead people to the point that the church is as it should be before God. I want to speak a very frank word. Today in the church the persons are right, but the situation is indeed wrong. The persons belong to God, the persons are right, but the situation is completely wrong. The situation is passive.
Therefore, when you go down from this mountain, you need to change not only the way of the work, so that now you have a definite center, but also the nature of the work. What is the nature of the work? It is to lead people to begin to work from the moment they are saved. The workers must lead the brothers to work and must not replace them by doing the work.
From now on there should not be much difference between the workers and the brothers, except that your spiritual condition before the Lord is strong, while theirs perhaps is weaker. In the matter of the work there is no difference, because they also are co-workers. It is only when you reach this point that you can understand the New Testament. The entire New Testament regards all of God’s children as co-workers, because they all are working. The only difference is that you have been sent to work, you have presented all of your time and energy, and you have been sent to different places to work. I especially want you to see this matter.
If within you are capable and strong enough, you will always push and always work, and you will be able to tear down our entire tradition.
The weight of tradition is very heavy. This tradition is oppressing. If you want to overthrow it, you must use considerable strength. This is not something quick. It will take a year or two before you can produce a new situation.