In this series of messages on the exercise and practice of the God-ordained way, we have seen that we should carry out our Christian work according to four basic principles or in four main steps. First, we have to practice the New Testament priesthood of the gospel by going out to visit people in their homes for the preaching of the gospel. Then when we have gained some, we must raise them up properly through the nourishing and cherishing in the home meetings. Third, we should bring these new ones to the group meetings that they might be perfected through the mutual teaching of all the saints. Then, these perfected ones can prophesy in the church meetings for the organic building up of the church as the Body of Christ. We have given many messages on the first three steps, but I am concerned that many of us may not be practicing persistently according to what has been spoken.
We all have to remember that the goal of our going out to practice the New Testament priesthood of the gospel is not merely to “win souls.” Nearly all of the gospel preaching in Christianity today is for “soul-winning,” but in the Lord’s recovery, our goal is not merely to get sinners saved through regeneration. We desire that those who are saved through our preaching would also be sanctified, transformed, and conformed to the image of Christ for the building up of the Body of Christ.
According to Ephesians 4:11 and 12, the ascended Head “gave some apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some shepherds and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints unto the work of ministry, unto the building up of the Body of Christ.” In these verses the word “unto” is used twice-“unto the work of ministry, unto the building up of the Body of Christ.” Because these two phrases are in apposition, they refer to the same thing. The work of the ministry is the building up of the Body of Christ, and the building up of Christ’s Body is the goal of the Head’s giving of the gifted persons. The gospel work done by the evangelist is not merely for “soul-winning.” It is to get sinners regenerated to become sons of God and members of Christ. Then God can have many sons to build up His house, the church, and Christ can have many members to build up His Body, which is also the church. To be built up as the house of God and to be built up as the Body of Christ are the same thing. Both the house of God and the Body of Christ are organic, and the building up of something organic requires building in life. This building in life is the organic increase of the church through the increase of God in the growth of life within the members of the organic Body of Christ (Col. 2:19). Our goal in preaching the gospel is to go out to get sinners saved to make them the sons of God and the building members of Christ’s Body.
First Peter 2 also shows us the goal of the New Testament priesthood. Verse 5 says that we “are being built up a spiritual house, into a holy priesthood.” Then verse 9 says that we are a royal priesthood so that we might tell out the virtues of Him who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. To “tell out” is to preach the gospel. This “telling out” is the preaching of the virtues of our saving God. According to these verses, the goal of the preaching of the gospel, the telling out of the virtues of our saving God, is for the building up of a holy priesthood as the house of God. This is not what we see in our present situation.
Our concept concerning the preaching of the gospel is very low due to our Christian tradition. We must humble ourselves, admitting to the Lord that we do not have the proper understanding. Although we have the whole Bible in our hands, much of our understanding of the Bible is traditional. When we go out to knock on people’s doors, we should not keep the old, traditional understanding concerning the goal of our gospel preaching. Our goal in preaching the gospel is to get sinners saved to be the material for the building up of the church as the house of God (1 Tim. 3:15; cf. Hag. 1) and the Body of Christ (Eph. 1:22-23).
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