Since October 1984 we have been studying the matter of the new way. It is now exactly four years since then. Through these last four years of study, and especially during the last two or three months, I have indeed gained something, and I have seen some new light: the new way is for the practice and fulfillment of Ephesians 4:11-16 and for the recovery of the meetings of mutuality in 1 Corinthians 14:26.
First Corinthians 14:26 occupies a crucial position in the Bible. But in the two thousand years that the church has existed on the earth, only in the beginning of the apostles’ time do we see a little of the practice of this matter. Afterwards this verse was put aside and few paid attention to it. Although some have ventured to study this matter since then, eventually all have given up for lack of a way to practice it. This verse, however, bears a vital relationship to God’s New Testament economy. According to our study during the last four years, we can affirm with assurance that unless the meetings of mutuality of 1 Corinthians 14:26 are recovered, it will be impossible to practice the building up of the Body of Christ as recorded in Ephesians 4:11-16.
We have pointed out before that the building mentioned in the New Testament is often misunderstood by some to mean the building up of a congregation. They fail to realize that it is the building up of the Body of Christ. We all know that a congregation is an organization, while a body is an organism. There are many organized congregations in our society. They do not need any truth, nor do they need any life. But the Body of Christ is organic. It can only be built up upon the truth and by being full of life. Whether we are building up an organized congregation or an organism has much to do with the way we meet. If we take the old way of Christianity and meet in its traditional way, we can build up only a congregation or an organization; we can never build up the organic Body of Christ. If we are to build up the organic Body of Christ, we must have the meetings of mutuality as recorded in 1 Corinthians 14:26. When the whole church comes together, “each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up.” This kind of meeting is organic. It has nothing to do with an organization.
When we consider the building up of the Body of Christ, we find it is related to one basic question: What is the relationship between the apostles and the churches, and the relationship between the apostles and the elders? For this reason, in this training we will fellowship specifically concerning the relationship between the apostles and the churches that they establish, and the relationship between the apostles and the elders that they appoint. We will also cover the different kinds of apostles and the relationship between them. Furthermore, we will consider the administration by locality of a local church and the organic building up of the Body of Christ. We must be very clear about these few things; otherwise, in practicing the new way, we will get lost.
At present there are churches on six continents of the earth. Their number has exceeded a thousand and fifty. Since we began the practice of the new way in the Lord’s recovery, saints in different localities have paid much attention to the matter. Because of geographical separation and the differences in race and language, the reactions to this matter are varied. According to my observation, this is all due to an inadequacy in the basic understanding concerning the apostles. For this reason, in these messages we will start by considering the apostles. Then from the apostles we will go on to the elders, and from the elders to the saints. Finally, from the saints we will go on to the churches. The churches are composed of the saints. In a locality the church is led by the elders, and in turn the elders are appointed by the apostles. Here we can see a few levels of relationships. First, there is the ascended Head. Through death and resurrection He has overcome Satan and death. Ephesians 4:8 says, “Having ascended to the height, He led captive those taken captive and gave gifts to men.” “Those” here signifies the captive saints. Formerly, they were captured by Satan; but through His death and resurrection, Christ has captured these ones from the capturing hands of Satan. When He ascended to the height, He led these captives along with Him to the height. In this way, they became a train of captives, celebrating Christ’s victory. Furthermore, by His resurrection life, Christ has constituted them gifts and has given them as gifts to His Body for its building up. The first among these gifts are the apostles.
This shows us that in the building work of the Body of Christ, the apostles occupy a very crucial and important position. The work of the apostles is to build up the churches in the various localities. For this, there is the need to appoint elders; then the elders lead the saints; then the saints follow the leading of the elders and become the local churches in the various localities. The building work in the various local churches does not only make them the church in their various localities, but it also constitutes them the universal Body of Christ. Here we have six levels: the Head, the apostles, the elders, the saints, the churches, and the Body of Christ. The Head gave the apostles; the apostles appoint the elders; the elders lead the saints; the saints constitute the local churches which are for the building up of the Body of Christ.