These six verses from Ephesians 4 have a number of crucial points, but the focus of these crucial points is the perfecting of the saints. In these few verses, the center and central thing in the Apostle Paul’s mind was the perfecting of the saints.
According to these verses, we are first told that the gifts were given: “And He gave some apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some shepherds and teachers.” This is the initial step; then the result is unto the work of the ministry, that is, unto the building up of the Body of Christ. How could the Body be built up? By the growth in life. Then out of the growth in life the function will come, the operation in measure of each one part, to cause the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love. Thus, there is the initial stage and then there is the result. Between these two ends is the perfecting of the saints. If there is no perfecting of the saints, all the gifts given by the Head become vain. Also, there will be nothing to cause the growth of the Body in life that functions may come out to build up the Body in love. The crucial and central point in this portion of the Word is the perfecting of the saints. Throughout the past years the Lord has been leading us in the ministry to perfect the saints for the growth in life so that the functions may come out to build up the Body in love.
We need to cover several points so that everyone may be impressed with what we are doing in this Perfecting Training. Why, after so many years, must we begin to have another stage? We all know the situation in today’s Christianity. Among so many believers in Christianity I would say honestly that there is no growth in life at all. I was with fundamental and formal Christianity, and I saw no growth there. I was also with the Brethren assembly, which may be considered as the best among the Christians. Yet after seven and a half years with them, I was the same; I had experienced no growth in life. In fact, they did not even talk about the matter of growing in life.
What about the functioning among today’s Christians? In a large so-called church, with perhaps three thousand, five thousand, or even seven thousand members, not one is a proper functioning member. What they have is just some hired professional preachers and ministers and certain rules and regulations of their organization. They just have an organization with hired professionals to carry out their work. That is not an organism at all; that is an organization. But the Body which is the church is an organism, and every member of this organism must be organic.
We have pointed out in the past that every normal person is born complete and perfect. Regardless of how little a baby is, if he is proper and normal, he has all the organs. He has eyes, ears, a nose, a mouth, a heart, lungs, a stomach, intestines, hands, and feet. But, although he is complete and perfect in all his organs, he has almost no function. His eyes, feet, hands, and mouth are complete and perfect, but they do not function. Why? It is because there is a shortage of growth in life. This complete and perfect person needs to be perfected, which is mainly through the growth in life. All the mothers know that the way to perfect their babies is to feed them so that they will grow.
This, too, is the way for the saints to be perfected; they need to grow. Then from the growth, a certain function will come out. The more a child grows, the more functions he has. This is to be perfected. In these verses, the apostles, prophets, and others function just like nursing mothers. Their work is just to perfect the saints. Verse 11 says that the gifts were given, and verse 12 says they are for the perfecting of the saints. The work of the gifts is to perfect the saints. Actually, the gifts such as the apostles and prophets do not and should not build up the Body directly. But, in today’s Christianity, the hired professionals do all of the work directly by themselves. The Bible tells us that all the gifts should not build up the Body of Christ directly, but that they should perfect the saints so that the saints may grow. Then the different operations, or functions, in measure of each one part will come out of the growth in life. Each member has a measure, but it must have the growth in life for the operation to come out. It is by the operation in measure of each one part that the Body is built up.
We can see clearly from these verses that the Body of Christ is built up by the function of every member in its measure. The function depends upon the growth. Verse 13 mentions a full-grown man. Verse 15 tells us that we may grow up into Him in all things, who is the Head, Christ, and then, out from whom comes the operation in measure of each one part.
I am so happy that the Lord has preserved us and brought us into the church life. Just to be here is a great mercy and grace! However, although I am very happy and excited, I feel that we are short of something. Many of you have been here for more than three and one-half years, attending the church meetings and training meetings. You have come to meeting after meeting, each of which has cost you about two hours. Thank the Lord that we all have a heart for His recovery and that, at least to some extent, we all mean business with the Lord for His move on this earth. Yet, I have a big question: how much growth in life have you gained?
Furthermore, many among us still do not function as we should. If we are lacking the growth in life and lacking the proper functioning, how can the Lord’s recovery go on? Eventually we will drift back into the situation of Christianity. Then we will be a repetition of the sad history of Christianity. So, this is a crucial matter! On the one hand I am excited, but on the other hand I am concerned about the shortage of growth and the lack of function. I realize that a good number do function, but according to my observation, your function is not so effective. You function, but you do not produce any spiritual fruit. Thus, some among us do not have the growth in life, others do not function, and many who do function are not so effective. Why do we lack the adequate growth? Why do we lack the proper function? And why do we function without effectiveness? We need four brothers to come to the platform to help us discover the answers to these three whys. Brothers, please tell us why the saints have not grown so much.
Well, I know from having eight children myself, that I have seen the growth through constant and steady eating. Not one of them has stunted growth, but every one continues growing in a very steady way. But I know that many of us do not eat in a constant and steady way. The growth depends very much upon our eating habits. While our habit to come to the meetings is very consistent, we may many times miss our spiritual eating.
Do you other brothers feel this is right? Do you feel that although the saints would never miss a meeting, they might unconsciously miss the proper spiritual eating?
I feel quite much the same way, and I would make this comparison: it may be compared to children of rich families who have the best food available to them, and when they eat with the family, they eat a proper, hot, and balanced meal. But when they are away from the family, they do not eat properly. Although the riches are available, they may not partake of them adequately. It is one thing to have a heart, but it is another thing to be consistently partaking of the riches that are available.
Actually, brothers, I do not believe this is the problem. You check with all the saints. When they come to the meetings, surely they pick up a lot of spiritual food. You cannot say that the saints come to the meeting, yet neglect to eat. They eat a lot.
It may be that they eat in the meetings, but I am thinking more about the private life, the daily walk. Certainly there is an abundance of food in the meetings.
You have to realize that as long as they eat in the meetings, they do get some food. It is not normal to continually eat twenty-four hours a day. Just a few times a day is sufficient. I would say that the reason your children eat regularly and grow steadily is because they have no disease, no sickness. But with so many saints, there is a kind of sickness. Although they eat a lot, they do not grow. Although they eat much food, some disease within them eats it up and they do not grow. Many among us have this kind of sickness or disease. We must discover what kind of disease is causing this lack of growth. It seems there is another eater within the saints, eating the food that they eat. How shall we designate this inside eater? What is the disease that eats up our food? Please consider yourself, brother. Why do you not grow? What kind of disease keeps you from growing?
It may be that ambition is the disease.
It may be that ambition is the problem. If you really do have some ambition, that is terrible. Surely ambition is a big eater. But I think some other germs may also be here. We need another brother to help diagnose your sickness.
One problem is that his time is very occupied by his work, because he wants to be faithful to his job. Due to this factor he spends sixty to seventy-five hours a week on his job. Therefore, he has no time for the church life. This is his real problem.
This is just an outward symptom. You have not touched his real disease.
Another disease is that he was an elder in a certain place and was mistreated. That is now in the past, but perhaps the brother did not take this situation from the Lord. Therefore, he has some doubts and unhappiness concerning the whole situation. Because of this he occupies his time with outward things to replace his inward emptiness. He needs to overcome being mistreated and believe in the sovereignty of the Lord in the situation. He should go to the Lord to see how the Lord wants to deal with him.
This sounds like a pastor using the materials of the Lord’s recovery. You are teaching him to take the mistreatment and to consider it something from the Lord. I would like to check with all of you—do you consider this as a proper teaching? If so, then you all are sick. Apparently this teaching is right; actually this is a sickening teaching. If taken, it will cause a Christian to be sick. If this brother considers the mistreatment as something from the Lord, his old man, his flesh, will be strengthened to the uttermost. This will become his boast. He would consider himself to be quite spiritual—that although he was mistreated, he did not react, but took that mistreatment as something from the Lord. Then he would become a mistreated hero. This would simply strengthen his old man, his self, and his flesh. So you have to realize this is not a healthy teaching. Rather, this teaching will make people sick. It will strengthen their flesh and self.
What then, for the sake of growth in life, should the brother do? First, he should go to the Lord without being offended in any way. He should go to the Lord, asking, “Lord, what do You want me to learn? I have been mistreated and have lost the eldership, but what do You want me to learn?” Do not pick up the religious teaching that you have to bear the cross and to take every mistreatment and circumstance as something from the Lord. This kind of teaching is not something living, something directly from the Lord. Forgetting all these things, just open to the Lord: “Lord, what do You want to teach me? I believe this is something of You. What should I learn from this?”
If he is so open to the Lord, the Lord may enlighten him and shine upon his ambition. Due to that shining, he would prostrate himself before the Lord and pray: “Forgive me, Lord! Forgive me, Lord! I did have such an ambition, and I still have such an ambition.” The Lord would then say to him: “Drop such an ambition.” In tears he would say, “Lord, thank You! I would drop it.” This is the real dealing, the real fellowship, with the Lord. If the brother will have such a dealing with the Lord, he will grow spiritually. We must realize, though, that just because the brother realizes he has some ambition, this does not mean he has been enlightened by the Lord. He simply has his own realization that he is ambitious. This kind of self-realization does not help him to grow. Even unbelievers realize their mistakes, shortcomings, bad habits, and bad customs. But this does not mean they could grow in life. Self-realization does not help the growth in life. Only the Lord’s enlightenment can effect the growth in life. We need the Lord’s enlightenment.
Just to pick up many teachings and doctrines does not help. If you accumulate many teachings and doctrines, you will spontaneously try to apply them when you are in a certain situation without having a direct, instant, and living contact with the Lord. Even if you pick up the most spiritual teachings, they will simply make you a religious person, not a person who is growing in life. Whatever our situations or circumstances, we should not pick up teachings, doctrines, or lessons and try to apply them to our situations. That is something religious; that is not the proper growth in life. The proper growth in life comes only from the direct contact with the Lord. It comes from His living enlightenment and from His instant pointing out of things within our being. Then in His presence, we will respond: “Lord, I love You! I love You! I do not apply any teaching to my situation. Lord, I take You. I take You according to Your enlightenment. I take You according to Your instant, present shining.” This kind of prayer will never make you religious, but will cause you right away to grow in life. You will take a great step in the growth in life.
Brothers, I feel that we still do not have a proper and thorough diagnosis of this case. Although ambition may be a frustrating factor with this brother, I do not believe it is the vital disease. We need some other brothers to help us diagnose the problem. This is not to criticize or to backbite. No! In a sense we are all sick. We all sympathize with one another, and we would all like to receive the same kind of healing. We all need the same kind of medication, treatment, and even surgery. May we have another diagnosis?
From my contact with this brother, I have never had the feeling that he has so much problem with ambition. But I have felt he needs to realize that he is in Christ and living and functioning unto Christ. This would take his eyes off others’ appreciation or depreciation of him. It would make him more bold in his living unto the Lord, giving him the standing and the strength he needs. Then if ambition or some other things were a problem, they could be rooted out.
You have, no doubt, gone further to touch his crucial problem. According to your word, he should not care so much whether people appreciate or depreciate what he is and what he does for the Lord. In other words, you have discovered that this brother is always hunting for others’ appreciation of what he is toward the Lord and what he has done for the Lord.
Here is a dear brother who, no doubt, is absolutely for the Lord’s recovery. He does mean business with the Lord for His move. But I feel that through all the years in the Lord’s recovery, we did not render him the particular help that he needed. Because of this, his problem has remained, even to this day. What, then, is his real problem? I would say that his problem is just his self. Of course, we all have the self, but he might be considered as a typical case in the matter of the self. His self is not a selfish or bad self; rather his self is a perfect, complete, and strong self. His self has never been touched by anyone. According to my contact with him in the past, I did pick up the registration that he is a dear brother who loves the Lord so much, who is absolutely for the Lord’s recovery, yet he has a strong, perfect self untouched by the Lord. This kind of self causes him, first of all, to be very independent. Although he is among the saints all the time and he is in the church and in the recovery, he is like a drop of oil in a bucket of water. A drop of oil may be in so much water, but it still remains by itself. The drop of oil is in the water, but it is never mingled, blended, and merged with the water. But on the contrary, when a drop of water is dropped into a large amount of water, it immediately loses its identification. It becomes lost in the water, and you cannot find a trace of it. Our brother is like a drop of oil in the water—he is among us, but he is very independent.
The second point is that he is altogether not flexible. This means everything must be up to his standard and consideration. Even when he functions in the meeting, it must be that the situation matches his convenience and standard. If the meeting does not meet his standard or it is not convenient, he will not function. This means he is not flexible. To be flexible concerning the meetings means that whether the meeting is good or bad, high or low, he would still function. He would make himself flexible according to the situation of the meeting. It would not matter to him whether or not he is an elder, a deacon, or a leading one—he would still function. This means he would function under all kinds of circumstances. To function in this way is very hard for him because he is not so flexible. Furthermore, if the church situation does not fit his feeling, he would not grow, but if the church situation fits his feeling, then he would grow. Again, this means he is not flexible. He should be flexible to grow regardless of whether the brothers and sisters are good or bad. His strong self causes him to be independent, and it causes him not to be flexible.
Third, this brother has the top selections. His self causes him to have his choice. He is not mingled in the church life at all. He remains in his choice. This is a strong self existing in its own surroundings. He has the strongest choice within the church; this is a strong self.
Fourth, his opinion is very strong. I do not think anything could break it. He is a strong person in his opinion. What is this? This is self. I think just these points are sufficient. The sickness of this brother that eats up his growth all the time is a self that causes him to be independent, not to be flexible at all, and causes him to always have his top choice in everything. He means business with the Lord, yet he does not care for the church so much; he cares for his choice. Although he does not say much, he is strongly opinionated. His strong, unbreakable opinion is existing all the time.
You just consider how much nourishment is required to feed this strong self. It is like a cancer, eating up all the nourishment. What then should this brother do? I would say that he should not do anything except go to the Lord and sit there, saying, “Lord, here I am. I still may not have the light from You to see where I am, but at least I have heard something. Lord, here I am. Lord, what would You do?” If the brother will pray in this way, I believe what he heard here will become a kind of living enlightenment to him. Under such a shining he may realize that although he has been so many years in the Lord’s recovery and even has paid a high cost, yet he has not had the adequate growth in life. The growth of life does not match the years he has been in the Lord’s recovery. Then he would ask for the Lord’s mercy and the living enlightening would come. When the heavenly light comes, it kills, and then it brings in resurrection. This means there will be a kind of living breaking of the self. The self will be broken, not by anyone else, and not in a way of self-asceticism. Just to try to “bear the cross” or to “crucify himself” will not work. These are just doctrines which will either make him religious or ascetic. Our only salvation is the enlightenment of the Lord. We have to go to the Lord; then the light will come. In His light we shall see light. Then the rich life, the fatness of the house of God will be ours, and we shall have the growth in life. I believe the four points we have mentioned are the basic germs within our brother. These are the things which frustrate his growth in life.
Now we come to another brother. Brother, how do you feel about your growth in life?
I feel definitely that my growth in life does not match the time that I have been in the recovery.
I think most of us would say the same thing. What, then, is your sensation about your problem?
It may be that I am seeking for appreciation, and that I feel very inhibited if I feel I am not appreciated.
Could some other brothers who know this brother come to help us. We are hunting for help; we want to be healed from our sickness. This is not a matter of accusing, backbiting, or criticizing; this is to have a little diagnosis. Be pure in your motive, pure in your thinking, and pure in your utterance.
To be honest I have never considered too much what might be the hindrance to this brother’s growth. According to my realization, few of the brothers whom I know have as much heart for the Lord’s recovery as this brother. Also, few brothers really mean business with the Lord and deal with the Lord as he does. I know he has much inward dealing with the Lord, and he receives much light from the Lord regarding himself and regarding his relationship with all the saints in the church. I think he is very healthy.
But he himself admits that his growth is not that adequate. Now we have a good point. Let us not consider whether he has adequate growth or not. Rather, let us check whether or not he has the adequate function in the church. If he does have the adequate function, it would prove that he has the adequate growth. If you say he has the growth, but there is not the function, you have to question the growth. Thus, we have to check whether this brother functions adequately and whether his function is effective. If he does not function adequately or if his function is not effective, then there must be a problem with his growth in life. Whether he has the adequate growth in life is something ambiguous and invisible, but the function is visible all the time. So would you other brothers tell us whether or not this brother functions adequately.
According to my registration, I would say this brother’s function is always a profit to the church.
You say his function is a profit to the church, but is it also adequate? I have discovered that some of the saints do bring a profit to the church when they function, but they function very rarely. They may function only once a year. This means they function and bring in a big profit only once a year. They may bring in one thousand dollars, but only once a year. The proper and adequate way is to function every day even though you may bring in only ten dollars. Every day you should function, and every day you should bring in ten dollars. We prefer to see a ten-dollar function daily, rather than a one-thousand-dollar function yearly. I am afraid he waits until we all die, and then he functions. He functions and makes a lot of profit, but after we all die. I am afraid also that he would not function at the first of the year, but only the last three days of the year.
It may be, however, that this brother does function often. Then I would ask whether he functions on time. We all like to eat lunch between 12:00 and 1:00 p.m., yet he may serve lunch at 6:15 p.m. He may serve lunch, but not on time. I have noticed many dear saints do function, and even function often, but not always on time. They do not function until the meeting has already been slaughtered; then they function. They function to the dead body. I like to see the saints function before the others die. While this brother may function quite often, I am concerned whether or not his function is on time. It may be hard for him to function on time.
According to my observation, this brother is a person with a very high self-consciousness. He is very sensitive to his self-consciousness. His hesitation, his slowness to function, and his consideration come from his self-consciousness. You have to realize that every self-conscious person is a self-protecting person. He is self-conscious because he is self-protecting. Again, this is a hindrance to the growth of life within him. We all have to learn one thing—when we come together in the meeting, we should sacrifice ourselves. We should care only for the meeting. We should not care for our condition, our situation, or anything else; we should care only for the meeting. When we have the feeling within that we have to function, we should just function. We should not hesitate, and we should not consider. All of us have this kind of problem. Unless this brother has the assurance that his self will not be damaged, he would not function. He would function only when he has the assurance that his self could be protected. This is why he does not function on time, and this is a hidden factor that eats up the growth of life within him. Without this factor he would have more growth, and he would function more often and on time. He would also have much transformation.
Another point is that this brother always tries not to offend people and not to do anything wrong. This is a kind of self-protecting which becomes his sensation of himself. He becomes very sensitive concerning himself. This self-sensitivity is what we call self-consciousness. This not only frustrates the function, but also secretly eats up the growth in life. I hope this brother would bring this matter to the Lord and not just accept what we are fellowshipping here as a kind of instruction, doctrine, or teaching in the Lord’s recovery. To take this as a kind of teaching is not wrong; it is even very good, but it is not so adequate. This fellowship should only help him to realize that he does have some need here and that he needs to go to the Lord in a direct and desperate way. The Lord will then give him the light. Once the heavenly light comes, it will kill all the germs. This is not asceticism or any kind of self-performance. This is different from the teaching that we have to bear the cross. This is also different from the teaching in the book, The Imitation of Christ. This is a kind of a direct contact that brings you into the light from the Lord. Such a light will spontaneously kill all your problems, even without your consciousness. After a few days you would wonder, realizing that something within you has changed. What has happened? The heavenly light has done some work in you without your consciousness. By such a work your spiritual disease will be cured. The proper medication for a certain disease will kill the germs of that disease. We all have to go to the Lord. Only the life-giving Spirit through the enlightenment from the heavens can deal with the diseases we have within us.
This is why we need such a perfecting meeting. Otherwise, week after week we will hear so many messages just in a general way; what we need is some particular diagnosis, some particular medication, and some particular healing. Only the Lord Himself can give us this particular healing; I cannot. So we all have to go to Him to have a direct contact with Him, purposely, particularly for this one item. Then you will see that something within you will be killed; something will be diminished; it will be gone. This is the healing. Then the growth will be there and the function will come.