Ephesians 4:15-16 says, “Holding to truth in love, we may grow up into Him in all things, who is the Head, Christ, out from whom all the Body, being joined together and being knit together through every joint of the rich supply and through the operation in the measure of each one part, causes the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love.” These two verses, which have a particular place in Ephesians, show the coordination of the Body of Christ, the growth of the Body, and the building up of the Body.
We have already seen that the church is the fullness of Christ and that the throne of God, the authority of God, is in the church. As a result, God can be enthroned in the church, and the church can be filled with God as the content. We can say these are the major points. Now we want to see some smaller yet more practical matters.
Ephesians 4:15-16 has a particular place because no other portion in the Bible speaks of coordination as thoroughly as these two verses. This passage plus Ephesians 2:21 and Colossians 2:19 speak of one thing—the coordination of the Body of Christ. The Body can grow because of this coordination, and the Body can build itself up because of this coordination. Therefore, these verses show how the church as the Body of Christ can be coordinated and how the Body itself grows and is built up through coordination.
Ephesians 4:15 says, “Holding to truth in love.” Simply speaking, this is to love God. This word sounds very simple, but it is very particular to the apostle Paul. This word means that we need to love God and continually hold God in the love with which we love Him. Truth refers to God. Anything that is not God Himself is false; only God is truth. In the midst of today’s confusion, every place is full of all kinds of teachings, interpretations, and instructions. What is the basis and standard for these teachings, interpretations, and instructions? Some people say that we should take the Bible as the basis. Regrettably, everyone’s interpretation of the Bible is different. The same sentence in the Bible is interpreted and explained differently. Since Ephesians 4:15 says that we need to “grow up into Him in all things, who is the Head, Christ,” what should be our basis and standard?
Any teaching or interpretation that does not cause us to touch God should be rejected, even if it is doctrinally correct. Every teaching and interpretation must also enable us to touch God and hold on to God. In the past few decades, the sisters’ head covering has become a popular topic of debate among the churches. The saints have had different interpretations which all sound very logical. They have found portions from the Bible proving that sisters should either cover their heads or not cover their heads. However, does this teaching cause people to touch God more? Or does it cause people to be separated from God? This is a very strong test.
We may be right in our interpretation of doctrine, but we must not take mere doctrine as the standard. We should apply this test before God: if a message does not cause us to touch God, even if it is doctrinally correct, we need to put it aside. We should learn, because we love God, to hold to truth and never lose the fellowship with God in love. If one’s speaking causes us to touch God, we should accept it. If their speaking causes us to be disconnected from Him, we should reject it, even if the speaking is doctrinally correct.
Holding to truth in love means that we have a heart of love toward God, and we hold the things that enable us to touch God in love. This results in our growing up into the Head, Christ, in all things. Here, all things does not refer to a few things or only to the big things; rather, it includes everything. We need to grow up into the Head, Christ, in all things. In Greek, this clause means that we are not connected to Christ in matters that we should be; that is, we are not linked to Christ in some matters. Consequently, something needs to be added so that we can grow up into Christ.
In our experience, it is not easy to grow up into the Head, Christ, in all things. The sisters have difficulty growing up into Christ in taking care of household chores and in how they dress. Nevertheless, we need to exercise to grow up into Christ. In the administration of the church, the elders in particular must grow up into Christ; they should not rely on their natural being or depend on human wisdom, cleverness, or worldly methods. Elders who do not grow up into Christ in administrating the church are holding on to things other than Christ instead of holding to truth in love. Elders who touch God’s fellowship in love will be able to forsake the things of the world, of their natural being, and of their human wisdom, cleverness, and effort. Thus, the Lord will cause them to live before the Lord and administrate the church by touching His feeling and being mingled with Him.
Through much contact with the different localities, I have become aware of our real condition. Just as businessmen in the world have their methods and schemes, sometimes those involved in spiritual matters also exhibit human methods, schemes, cleverness, and smartness. Under the Lord’s precious blood, I can testify that I have never argued with anyone during the course of my service, but I have fought for one principle. I have often asked one question, “Is this our scheme or the Lord’s will?” We must consider this. All who serve God must learn this deep lesson. We need to learn to touch the Lord’s presence, to live in the Lord, to hold on to Christ the Head, and to hold to truth. We should not use our own skill and methods.
We must be clear that our being is not yet completely saved; we still do the Lord’s work and administrate the church out of ourselves. We have not grown up into the Head, Christ, in administrating the church. There is one basic principle or primary requirement that will never change: if we desire a good coordination in the church, we must touch God’s presence and grow up into the Head, Christ, in all things, holding to Him.
For example, when various halls send saints to pick up gospel invitations from the main service office, those who come first often pick up a large quantity and leave only a few for those who come later. As a further example, because the fund for supporting the full-timers is limited, one of the brothers from one of the halls may think of a way to be the first to fellowship about their need so that they can obtain more funds. These are all facts. There was a co-worker who was going to visit a certain church for three days and was passing by another church on the way. The brothers from that church came to talk to me. They gave a very good reason for needing the co-worker’s help, saying that they had a group of young students with a good spiritual future. Because of this, they asked the co-worker to change his itinerary. Originally, he was going to be at the first church for three days, but after changing his plans he could be there for only two days. This deprived the church of his full service. These examples are to help us see our problem. We have too many human methods in our service. Although we accomplish some work, we do not touch the Lord and we also lose the Lord’s presence.
In our service, which is holy and good, we must learn an important lesson: we cannot forsake holding to truth in order to reach a goal. We must ask, “Lord, do I have Your presence in doing this?” We need to have the Lord’s presence in everything, not only in our service. If this should be our attitude in things that are holy and good, how much more should it be in other things as well? Our household affairs, our occupation, our children, our family, our marriage, and our relationships with others must all be according to this principle. We should not merely care for benefit and success; we should care for whether we are holding to truth inwardly, holding the Head, and touching Christ. We may do something in a certain way and be successful, but will this cause us to be separated from Christ our Head? We do not need to wait for others to teach us; we know within.
It is possible for us to accomplish a task and gain some benefit yet lose the Lord’s presence and the inward reality. We may justify ourselves, saying that our actions are not sinful but are instead for the church. We may even consider that there is a holy and righteous aspect to selfishness. However, within us we know that we have not learned the lesson and that we are detached from the Lord. We have lost God’s presence because of our accomplishment. This is not an ordinary word; it is a warning. The brothers and sisters who care more for their benefit than for the presence of Christ cannot be fitly joined with others in the Body of Christ. They damage the coordination of the Body. These saints are neither fitly joined nor strongly knit together in the Body.
We need to have God’s authority and touch the Lord’s presence even in small matters such as picking up gospel invitations. Whether we are early or late in picking up the invitations, we must touch the Lord’s presence within. If the Lord gives us a feeling to pick up two thousand copies, but we instead pick up two thousand five hundred copies, we will feel neither at ease nor peaceful within. Spiritual lessons are fine and delicate. When we learn to touch God’s presence within, we will pick up only two thousand invitations, even if twenty thousand are available. If we do not follow the Lord’s presence, we will have a problem with the coordination of the Body.
Our service and coordination together will be beautiful and strong when we each hold to truth according to the inner feeling, do not lose the fellowship with the Lord, and learn the lesson of growing up into Christ. On the contrary, if we do not grow up into Christ in all things, there will be disharmony when we are together. Even if there are no outward arguments or quarrels, there will still be some hidden matters. Some of the saints are more cultured and have a greater capacity of tolerance. Although they are able to remain outwardly calm, they are in inward turmoil. This causes the Body to lose the flow of life. Thus, the Body is unable to supply itself, and it cannot grow because it lacks harmonious coordination. Hence, the coordination of the Body is essentially based upon the fact that the members grow up into the Head, Christ, in all things. The Body feels uncomfortable when any member in the Body acts contrary to this. Therefore, every member must be joined to the Head and grow up into the Head in all things.