In Ephesians 4:11-16 we can see a clear picture of how the Body of Christ can be built up. It can only be built up by all the Body of Christ causing the growth of the Body. All the Body of Christ is joined closely together and knit together through every joint of the rich supply and through the operation in measure of each one part. This causes the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love.
The Body is built up by itself through the gifted persons, the joints, and through the other members of the Body, each one part. The joints have the position and the storehouse of Christ’s riches, but they still need to act. The other members do not need the rich supply; they only have to operate. When the joints and the parts are functioning, this keeps all the members of the Body living, moving, acting, and operating. Then sinners will be saved, and the saved sinners will be established, nourished, cherished, and perfected. Eventually, all of them will repeat the same thing that we are doing. The practice of the truth in Ephesians 4:11-16 will change the entire scenery of the Christians. I am so insistent because I have seen something real. We need to have a change. We need to be revolutionized. We need to practice to perfect the saints in our locality. After two weeks the saints that we perfect will go to others to perfect them. By this way the whole church will be stirred up.
To be an operating one, we have to be revived every morning. Every day we need to live a victorious life, an overcoming life. Moment by moment we should live in the fellowship of our dear Lord. Then at any time, we can have the inspiration from the divine reality. As such persons, our vision will be keen to see all things and to discern all things. We will always have a clear view. Then we will be able to prophesy, to speak the Lord, at any time it is needed. Such prophesying in our meetings builds up the Body of Christ.
We need to consider what the New Testament says concerning the Christian meetings. In the Gospels the one solid verse concerning Christian meetings is Matthew 18:20 where the Lord Jesus said, “For where two or three are gathered together into My name, there I am in their midst.” This may be considered as a small group meeting. The book of Acts shows us how the early believers met. The first twelve chapters of the book of Acts are on Peter’s ministry and the last sixteen chapters are on Paul’s ministry. In the first twelve chapters, we can see that before the church came into existence, the one hundred twenty were praying for ten days. After ten days on the day of Pentecost, something spectacular occurred, that is, the one hundred twenty were baptized in the Holy Spirit. Peter took the opportunity to stand up with the eleven to speak to the people gathered there and three thousand were saved. That was not a church meeting but something that happened suddenly. Peter took advantage of that gathering to preach the gospel.
On the same day, those three thousand began to meet from house to house, which in Greek means “according to houses” (Acts 2:46). This shows that there was a meeting in each house. With three thousand people, there were at least four hundred families with four hundred homes. The ones who could help these newly baptized ones were the one hundred twenty. These ones were baptized early in the day. By the one hundred twenty disciples visiting four homes each in the early afternoon, late afternoon, early evening, and late evening, they could have covered four hundred eighty homes. My point is this—after the one hundred twenty baptized people, they went to perfect them right away. In the past we baptized many people, but not many of them remained because we did not visit them again and again to perfect them. If we did the perfecting work that the one hundred twenty must have done beginning at Pentecost, at least fifty would remain out of two hundred that we baptize.
Acts shows us that the saints did the following things in their homes: they had the Lord’s table, they had fellowship, they preached Christ as the gospel, they taught the truths, and they prayed (Acts 2:42, 46; 5:42). The main way for Christians to meet is in the homes. Acts 12 records that when Peter was in prison the church prayed for him (v. 5). When he was released from prison, he went to one of the homes where the saints were praying (v. 12). Surely there were saints in many homes praying for Peter that night, and Peter went to one of them. This shows us that the saints in the early church met in their homes. No verse tells us that the saints prepared a hall or had a schedule of regular meetings. The Scriptures tell us that the three thousand new ones on the day of Pentecost met every day, and they even had the Lord’s table daily (Acts 2:46). When Peter was living on this earth, the meetings that he saw were absolutely different from what is seen today in Christianity.
We can also see something concerning the Christian meetings in the last sixteen chapters of Acts covering Paul’s ministry. Wherever Paul went, he took advantage of the people’s gathering to preach the gospel. He went to the synagogues, not to keep the Jewish worship but to preach the gospel. When a number of people were saved, he formed them into a church. Acts 20 records a meeting of the saints in Troas with the Apostle Paul. When Paul was traveling, he stopped at Troas for seven days. On the first day of the week, the saints had the Lord’s table, and Paul shared with them until morning. Paul’s sharing with them should not be considered as a regular church meeting. This was a meeting for a gifted person to impart revelation.
Acts tells us that the early churches met in the homes of the saints. The Epistles tell us of four different homes in which the churches met (Rom. 16:5; 1 Cor. 16:19; Col. 4:15; Philem. 2). To meet in the homes is organic. If we only have a meeting hall with a definite, regular schedule, this will bring the entire church into the “box” of organization and causes us to lose the organic ability. If we take the way revealed in Acts, whatever we do will be organic, not organizational. I encourage you all to go out to visit people and meet with them organically and not by being organized.
In Hebrews 10:25, Paul says that we should not forsake the assembling of ourselves together, but exhort one another. I do not believe that this describes a big meeting because it is hard to exhort one another in a big meeting. This must describe a small group meeting where we can exhort and encourage one another.
We must see that we in the Lord’s recovery, to a certain extent, are still practicing and carrying on our meetings and service according to the traditional way of Christianity. These practices put us into an organizing box. Everything may be organized and regulated with schedules in a definite way, but this is not organic. I do not mean that when we practice the biblical way, the church should not come together. We have to come together. According to our experience, it is most profitable for the saints to meet in their homes for fellowship, for the Lord’s table, for preaching the gospel, for teaching the truth, and for prayer. Then maybe once a week or once every two weeks, the saints should come together to be built up with one another.
According to our experience, however, it is hard to have the whole church come together every week. On the Lord’s Day morning about five thousand saints in the church in Taipei meet. If they all met together in the same place, very few of the saints would be able to speak in the meeting. Thus, the church in Taipei has over one hundred district meetings with about fifty saints in each meeting. We can come together in bigger groups of at least fifty saints on the Lord’s Day. When we come together, there should not be a definite speaker. This meeting should be full of mutuality according to the practice of 1 Corinthians 14:26—“each one has.” This meeting is the best time for the saints to prophesy, to speak for the Lord, to speak the Lord into others. In the district meetings in Taipei, the saints are practicing to prophesy. Each one who speaks does not occupy more than three minutes. That means at least twenty saints can prophesy in an hour.
As we have seen in chapter three, to learn how to prophesy we have to learn the Word and live in fellowship with the Lord so that we can have the instant inspiration of the Triune God at any time. Then we can have a clear view to see through all things in all situations. Because we have the learning of the Word, the inspiration of the Triune God, and the clear view, we will be able to prophesy whenever the need arises.
If we meet and serve in the scriptural way, the entire church with every member will be active. The joints will act to supply, and each one part will operate to preach the gospel, to have home meetings, to have small group meetings, and to prophesy in the bigger meetings. The church will be increased, and the saints will be not only edified but also built up. In the larger church meetings there will be much opportunity for each one to prophesy. In 1 Corinthians 14 Paul says that we can all prophesy one by one. We can prophesy because we have been taught, perfected, equipped, and furnished to prophesy. This is the way that is revealed for us Christians to meet according to God’s heart’s desire. This is absolutely different from today’s traditional practice.