The service that we have before the Lord is the issue of our growth in the spiritual life. In the church life the participation of the saints in the service is a manifestation of the extent of their growth in life. Without growth in life, the service will inevitably become a human organization. If the service in a local church is not the issue of life, it will need to be organized and promoted using human methods. As a result, the reality of the church life and service will be lost, and the church will degrade into a social organization.
If a church does not pay much attention to the growth of Christ’s life in the saints and neglects to submit to the authority of the Holy Spirit, the result will be that it will use human methods and reasoning to elect elders and deacons according to man’s condition. This is human organization. The service in the church should be the manifestation of the growth of life. When by the Lord’s grace the saints love the Lord, know the Lord, and thus allow the Lord’s life to grow in them, some of them will be manifested as elders while others will be manifested as deacons. This is the way the serving ones in the church should be produced.
Therefore, we all need to allow the life of Christ to have a way out of us. The faster the life of Christ grows in the saints, the faster those who can serve in the church will be produced; the more life grows, the more serving ones will be produced. If in a local church there are only persons who are merely saved, and if there is no growth in life, then it will be difficult for serving ones to be produced in that church. When the saints truly consecrate themselves to the Lord, pay the price absolutely, abandon their futures, and allow the Lord to gain ground and have a way in them, only then will it be possible for serving ones to be produced in the church.
The spiritual things are related to the Spirit, and the things of life are related to life, having nothing to do with our education, knowledge, or capability. If the service in the church is committed only to those who are capable and highly educated, then it is reduced to a kind of social activity. Thus, not only will the church lose its reality, but it will also become a social organization. The church is the Body of Christ; the content of the church is the presence of Christ-the life of Christ; furthermore, all the functions of the church are the expression of Christ Himself. Therefore, the service in the church must be the issue of the manifestation of the life of Christ.
The manifestation of Christ’s life is based upon the breaking of the cross, and the breaking of the cross is based upon our learning. For example, suppose someone who serves the Lord preaches the gospel in a certain place and as a result some people are saved and begin to meet together as the church in that locality. Then a question will arise: Who ought to bear the responsibility of the church there? It all depends upon the manifestation of Christ’s life in the saints. How can the life of Christ be manifested? It is through the breaking of the cross. But how can the newly saved ones know the breaking of the cross? They do not know the way of the cross, nor have they experienced anything of the cross, so how can they know the breaking of the cross? Thus, there is the need for the serving ones to not only help people to receive the life of Christ but also to help people to know the breaking of the cross and thereby allow the life of Christ to be manifested through them. This requires much learning.
Home | First | Prev | Next