Furthermore, in Ephesians 4, Paul tells us that God has an economy. This economy is for the dispensing of His riches in Christ to His chosen ones who have believed in Him. This economy requires a group of people like the apostles for its execution and fulfillment. But do not think that in God’s economy the stewardship is only entrusted to the apostles and the prophets and that they alone will accomplish the work. The apostles’ stewardship is for the perfecting of the saints unto the work of the New Testament ministry, which is the building up of the Body of Christ. If there are some among us who have received this grace to have the apostles’ stewardship, they must remember that they are not here to do everything by themselves. They should learn of the apostle Paul. Paul says that the Head has given gifts to the Body, such as the apostles, prophets, evangelists, and shepherds and teachers. These people are for the perfecting of the saints, that is, for the dispensing of Christ to the other saints, perfecting them to an extent that they may do the work of the New Testament ministry, which is to directly build up the Body of Christ.
Suppose there are three hundred fifty saints meeting here, and we have the church services. I am concerned that all that you understand as church service is just the cleaning of the floor, the washing of the windows, the ushering, etc. Let me ask you, can these be considered the church services? This is difficult to answer. I would like to consider with you if in these business affairs we are distributing Christ to others. In principle, only one thing counts in the church service, which is the distributing of Christ to others. To preach the gospel and to bring people to salvation is definitely to distribute Christ to others. That is surely a church service. After people are saved, they become the new believers, the lambs. We have to feed the lambs. This feeding of the lambs after the gospel preaching is also a distribution of Christ to others. After this, we have to continue to lead them. Not only do we have to feed them for two or three months; we may have to spend a year or two years to care for them. Not only do we have to care for them in private, but we also have to bring them to the meetings. This is also to distribute Christ to them. First Corinthians 14 also teaches us that when the whole church comes together, everyone should have something to present to others. This is not the so-called “worship service” in Christianity, but a meeting in which everyone has something to present. Paul says that we can all prophesy, that is, to speak for God, to speak forth God, and to speak God into others one by one. Hence, whenever we come together as the church, everyone has to learn to speak for the Lord. What we see today in Christianity as the Lord’s Day morning worship service is a totally unscriptural practice. The Bible tells us that when the whole church comes together, everyone should have something to present. In other words, everyone should have something to say. To run errands and to manage affairs is not service. In type, those are not the work of the priests, but the work of the Levites, the miscellaneous works. The work of the priest is to offer sacrifices, to light the lamps, and to burn incense. Is there a priest who does not offer sacrifices? If one does not offer sacrifices, he is not a priest. Today in the church service, we must be able to distribute Christ to others. In the meeting, all you have to do is to say in a proper way: “Christ is my life. He is living a temper-killing life within me. I can never control my temper by myself. Even if I can do it, it does not count in God’s eyes. What God wants is to have Christ live out of me.” For you to speak these few words is for you to minister Christ. But today we have been influenced by our background and environment. We have the wrong concept that on Sunday, we have to either speak a long message, or not say anything. In the end, the more some do not speak, the more they become unable to speak. We must create an atmosphere among us that encourages everyone to speak. If you cannot speak a lot, speak a little. If you cannot speak three sentences, speak one sentence. I say this to make you clear that the church service is to minister Christ to others. For this reason, at the beginning of chapter three Paul said that he received a special grace; God gave to him the stewardship of grace that he might minister and dispense God’s grace to others. By chapter four, he went on further to describe what the Head has given to the church-the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers. All these are for the perfecting of the saints, so that all the saints can participate in the building up of the Body of Christ, the very work that the apostles are entrusted with. In this way, does it not mean that after being perfected, every saint in the church becomes an apostle? Do you believe that everyone in the church can minister Christ, and that every sister among you can more or less minister Christ and can dispense Christ to others? The answer is definitely yes. Hence, we can all build up the Body of Christ. All those who build up the Body of Christ are either apostles, prophets, evangelists, or shepherds and teachers. In this way, all of us become these people. We will all become the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers.
God’s dispensing is for the fulfillment of His eternal plan, which is the building up of the church as His Body and habitation on earth. This is fully a matter of the divine dispensing. This dispensing in His economy is on three levels. First, God in His economy does the dispensing Himself in producing the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the shepherds and teachers. Second, these gifted ones fulfill their ministry by perfecting the other saints. Third, the perfected saints do the work of the apostles and the prophets, that is, the work of the New Testament ministry, which is the building up of the Body of Christ. In this way the dispensing of God can reach its ultimate goal-the building up of the Body of Christ.
(A message given by Brother Witness Lee in Peaking Jaya, Malaysia on November 4, 1990)
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