What is the ministry? Most people lack the proper understanding of the ministry. I often heard you pray in the meeting, saying, “We need to follow the ministry,” or “We need to be one with the ministry.” I doubt that you have a true understanding concerning the ministry. In the Bible, there are these two words—ministry and minister. These two are not the same. “Ministry” refers to the work of the Lord’s move on the earth, whereas “minister” refers to one who bears responsibility in the Lord’s work. We have spoken concerning this point quite thoroughly among us for many years.
Throughout the generations there has been the work of the Lord’s move. In the Old Testament, during Noah’s age, the Lord’s move was the building of the ark. This work of building the ark was the ministry in Noah’s age. Noah was the chief minister in that ministry. However, just by Noah alone, there was no way to build the ark. At that time, there must have been some who built the ark together with Noah. The work of building the ark was the ministry in that age. Do you think that in that ministry there were two or more different works, or two or more groups of different people, or two or more different leaderships? Certainly not; otherwise, the ark could never have been built.
The problems of Christianity in the past two thousand years have been due to too many “ministries.” Every denomination and every sect say that they are building the church of Christ. Many chapels have a piece of foundation stone inscribed with the words, “Christ Jesus, our foundation.” One Jesus Christ is divided up into many foundations. This is the crucial point of all the problems.
The Bible shows us very clearly that in Noah’s age there was only one ministry; yet many ministers were there together building the ark. This does not mean that every minister was a master builder. Only Noah was the leader in the ministry of building the ark.
During the age of Moses, God desired to build the tabernacle with its furniture, the most important of which was the ark. Moses himself alone could not have built all those things, but he had the ministry of building the tabernacle, which was the work to fulfill God’s unique purpose. In this ministry, there was not only Moses himself; Moses was one of many ministers, and, undeniably, he was the leading one in that ministry. If there had been other leaders besides Moses, there would have been confusion in that situation.
During the age of David and Solomon, God desired to build the temple. The building of the temple was not merely a work, but a ministry. At that time, there were not two different ministries building the temple; hence, there were not two different leaderships. In David’s age, it was David who was taking the lead. After David passed away, Solomon was the one taking the lead. However, anyone who had a part in the ministry of building the temple, including the stone-cutters and stone-movers, was a minister in that ministry.
In the New Testament, the Lord Jesus came and He said, “On this rock I will build My church” (Matt. 16:18). The first one who participated in the ministry of building the church was the Lord Jesus. The Lord’s ministry was to build up the Body of Christ. For this, He chose twelve apostles and brought them into the ministry of building the church. Afterward, He also brought in other apostles, among whom the most prominent was Paul.
Since in every age there has been the work of ministry, it stands to reason that in this age also there should be the continuation of the Lord’s ministry. We cannot deny that on the earth today there is the Lord’s building. The Lord has been building throughout the generations, and He will continue to build until His building work is fully completed, when the New Jerusalem descends from heaven.