Ezekiel 1 presents a wonderful picture of the coordination we should have in the church life; as the living creatures, we need to follow the Spirit and fellowship and coordinate with the saints in the church service.
The church is the Body of Christ and the kingdom of God; as believers in Christ and members of the Body of Christ, we need to be the living creatures that God needs for His move, expression, and administration on earth today.
If we prayerfully analyze Ezekiel 1:9-12 we will see that the four living creatures are joined by means of two of their wings, and as they move, one of them takes the lead and the others follow.
Again and again we are told that “they did not turn as they went”; each went straightforward when it was their turn to lead, but when another living creature moved, they all followed by moving sideways or backwards.
In the church as the Body of Christ we are members with different functions, and we need to learn to fellowship and coordinate as we serve in the church. On the one hand, we cannot say that, since we don’t have others’ function, then we’re not of the Body; on the other hand, we should not say that our function is the most important in the Body.
God has placed all the members in the Body even as He willed, and He has blended the members of the Body, giving more beauty to the ones that lacked. We should not despise our function and covet others’ function, neither should we be proud of our function and neglect others’ function.
How much we need to learn to fellowship and coordinate in the Body, enjoying the Lord together, so that we may be attuned in mind, joined in soul, think the one thing, and coordinate as four living creatures for God’s move, expression, and administration!
When a member of the Body functions, he moves “straight forward” to fulfill his function, and we all need to accommodate him by moving in the same direction, saying Amen to his portion and function.
This may mean that we have to move “backward” or “sideways”, that is, we need to do everything through the cross and by the Spirit so that Christ would be dispensed into others for the sake of His Body.
Learning to Fellowship and Coordinate to be Blended as Living Creatures
In the church service we all need to learn not only how to walk straight forward (that is, take the lead to carry out our ministry and exercise our function) but also how to walk backward and sideways.
We need to enjoy the Lord together with the saints and learn to fellowship and coordinate so that we may be full of strength to apprehend with all the saints what the breath, length, height, and depth are (Eph. 3:18).
We need to be saved from being a “one-liner”, that is, over-emphasize one thing or one portion, and we need to have a “cube experience of Christ” as described in Ephesians 3 by having fellowship and coordination with the saints.
God in His wisdom has blended, adjusted, tempered, and mingled the Body together (1 Cor. 12:24); this means that our distinctions are being lost in our fellowship and coordination together. In coordination there’s no freedom or convenience, for coordination keeps us form making turns and blends us with the saints in the Body.
Before doing anything, we need to stop to fellowship and coordinate with those who serve with us. If we serve with the children or the young people, before we do anything, we need to fellowship and coordinate.
If we are serving on campus or opening our home to the students and new ones, we need to be blended together by fellowship and coordination with the saints. If we isolate or seclude ourselves we lose much spiritual profit, but if we learn to fellowship and coordinate, we are blended together and the Lord has a way to move through us.
Fellowship blends us, adjusts us, tempers us, mingles us, harmonizes us, limits us, protects us, supplies us, and blesses us; the Body of Christ is in the fellowship among the members, among the churches, and on all the earth (Eph. 4:4; 2 Cor. 13:14).
As we are on the highway of fellowship and coordination in the church life, we need to love one another, our wives need to love one another, and we need to care for one another’s children. We need to learn to fellowship, coordinate, and follow one another in our ministry before the Lord.
In the church life we all need to learn to have four kinds of walk: the straightforward walk, the backward walk, the sideways walk to the right, and the sideways walk to the left. If we do not learn to have these four kinds of walk, we will become a problem to our local church. The more we grow, learn, function, and minister, the more trouble we will cause because we know only how to walk forward and to have turns. Witness Lee, Life-Study of Ezekiel, p. 73
For example, a brother may have a ministry to preach the gospel and another to build up the saints; these brothers need to fellowship and coordinate, otherwise they may cause problems.
When the brother burdened for the gospel is functioning, moving straight forward, the brother burdened for shepherding should learn to move backward, and all the saints move sideways in oneness.
To walk backwards or sideways is to say Amen to another’s ministry, function, and burden. It is to follow the leading of the Spirit in other saints as they function and minister. If brothers with different functions do not know to fellowship and coordinate, they will compete and even strive against each other, which could result in division.
Instead of striving and competing with others in service we need to think the one thing – the subjective knowledge and experience of Christ (Phil. 1:17; 2:2). We need to live by the Spirit and walk by the Spirit, not provoking one another or envying one another but fellowshipping and coordinating with the saints for the Lord’s move.
Lord Jesus, we want to learn to fellowship and coordinate in the church life as living creatures for You to have a way to blend us together in Your Body. Save us from doing things individualistically, without any fellowship or coordination with the saints. May we realize how much the fellowship blends us, adjusts us, tempers us, and harmonizes us. May we allow the fellowship and coordination with the saints to limit us, supply us, protect us, and bless us as we serve in coordination in the Body!
Following the Spirit, the Churches, and the Saints to Serve in the Body
The living creature which takes the lead to move forward needs to follow the leading of the Spirit, for it is the Spirit who leads the living creatures (Ezek. 1:12).
In our fellowship and coordination in the church life, the brothers who take the lead in a certain service need to follow the leading of the Spirit, and all the other saints will follow them (see Acts 2:14; 16:6-10).
When a brother who is burdened for shepherding the saints moves forward, we all need to walk sideways or backwards to follow him, for he has the leading of the Spirit. We need to learn to say Amen to other’s ministry, function, and burden in the Body (Rom. 12:4; 1 Cor. 14:29-31).
There is one unique New Testament ministry, but there are many functions in that ministry, and these functions are ministries within the one ministry in the Body of Christ.
If we care only for our particular service and do not have these four kinds of walk – forwards, backwards, left sideways, and right sideways – we will eventually become a problem in the church.
3 John 1:9 singles out a brother, Diotrephes, who “loves to be first”; may the Lord save us from being a “one liner” who doesn’t fellowship and coordinate with the saints in the Body!
To follow the Spirit is the responsibility of the one walking straight forward, and those who walk backward or sideways follow his lead; then, as the Spirit moves or turns, the brother who has the Spirit’s leading will walk straight forward and the rest backwards or sideways.
If you thought that a two-legged race is complicated, just imagine what it takes for four living creatures to move in oneness according to the Spirit’s leading! This is why we need to learn to fellowship and coordinate in the church life, and we need to follow the Spirit’s leading (if we walk straight forward), follow the saints, and even follow the churches to serve in the Body!
This matter of coordination and fellowship should be applied not only in a local church but also among the churches; just as the church in Thessalonica followed the churches in Judea, so we need to learn from other churches and follow them in the positive aspects or fresh leading of the Spirit.
When one church takes the lead in a definite direction under the leading of the Spirit, we all should walk backward and sideways to follow.
There’s much to learn from the saints and from the churches as they follow the Spirit’s leading, and it is in this that we apply the cross, follow the Lord, and realize the Body of Christ.
It is not God’s will for any believer to be singled out from among others to lead all the time while the others are passive; the work should be shared among many believers, so that no one’s personality would be impressed on the work or on the church.
When we have fellowship and coordination, we don’t have the domination of a person but all saints function; in this coordination we depend on one another, we submit to one another, we learn to bear the cross, and we experience the Body of Christ in reality.
Lord Jesus, we want to learn to follow the leading of the Spirit, follow the saints who follow the Spirit, and follow the churches so that we may be blended together and serve in the Body. Save us from caring only for our particular service in the church. Grant us to learn to fellowship and coordinate so that we may walk sideways and backwards as needed in the fellowship and blending of the living creatures. Lord, may we learn to bear the cross in fellowship, and may we know the Body in reality in our coordination!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by brother Ed Marks for this week, and portions from, The Divine and Mystical Realm, ch. 6 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Ezekiel (1), msg. 4 (week 4), The Coordination of the Four Living Creatures.
- Hymns on this topic:
# I long for fellowship in spirit, / That mingled with the saints I’ll be, / Long to be saved from independence / And to be built with saints in Thee. / I long for fellowship in spirit, / That opened shall my spirit be, / Long to be rescued from seclusion, / And with the saints to worship Thee. (Hymns #847)
# All the saints of Christ are / Members every one; / All coordinating / Into oneness come. / Each, the others needing, / Must impartial be; / Each his place possesses / And utility. (Hymns #854)
# As in a team we’d never / Act independently, / But in coordination, / Each would dependent be; / Not acting by our choosing / But following the flow, / Distraction never bringing, / The Spirit’s way we’d know. (Hymns #867)
About aGodMan
Sometimes a certain brother…[who] is naturally humble…hesitates and does not take the lead in a bold way,…[and] this causes the church to be delayed and to have no direction for its going on. At other times one who should not be leading takes the lead. This damages the church life.
We should apply this matter of coordination not only in a particular local church but also among the churches. This means that we should be followers of the churches (1 Thes. 2:14). We are one Body in one move of the Lord. When one church takes the lead in a definite direction under the leading of the Holy Spirit, we all should walk backward and sideways to follow. (Life-study of Ezekiel, pp. 73, 78, by W. Lee)
Oh Lord Jesus how I need to be blended to the body……
Amin Aleluia !!!
Amen
In Scripture we see that there was always more than one elder or bishop in a local church. It is not God’s will that one believer should be singled out from all the others to occupy a place of special prominence, while the others passively submit to his will. If the management of the entire church rests upon one man, how easy it is for him to become self-conceited, esteeming himself above measure and suppressing the other brethren (3 John). God has ordained that several elders together share the work of the church, so that no one individual should be able to run things according to his own pleasure, treating the church as his own special property and leaving the impress of his personality upon all its life and work. To place the responsibility in the hands of several brethren, rather than in the hands of one individual, is God’s way of safeguarding His church against the evils that result from the domination of a strong personality. God has purposed that several brothers should unitedly bear responsibility in the church, so that even in controlling its affairs they have to depend one upon the other and submit one to the other. Thus, in an experimental way, they will discover the meaning of bearing the cross, and they will have opportunity to give practical expression to the truth of the Body of Christ. As they honor one another and trust one another to the leading of the Spirit, none taking the place of the Head, but each regarding the others as fellow members, the element of mutuality, which is the distinctive feature of the church, will be preserved. Watchman Nee, The Normal Christian Church Life, ch. 3
Amen Lord Jesus blend us together.
Amen… for we just one body in Christ.
Amen. May the Lord unveil us to see how ugly and monstrous it is for an individual to usurp the headship of Christ. The Lord said in Revelation that he hates the work of the Nicolaitans, which is today’s clergy laity system. We, too must hate and totally abhor whatever the Lord hates. Christ is the head of the church and he alone must be seen. Every other member is just a member in the body and cannot Lord it over other believers. May the Lord recover this truth with us today.
Amen! Worth to read and enjoy!
The Normal Christian Church Life is a record of messages given during conferences held in Shanghai and Hankow. Watchman Nee spoke to his fellow workers on the principles in the New Testament concerning the practical arrangement of the churches, the ministry, and the work. In his speaking, he honestly examined his own work before the Lord in the light of these principles, provided adjustment and encouragement to his co-workers, and confirmed through personal testimony that the practice of the normal Christian church life revealed in the New Testament can be recovered. [via https://www.livingstream.com/en/the-church/8013401-normal-christian-church-life-the.html%5D
Christ, the First and the Last; the Bridegroom that has the Bride, the first-born son of God in resurrection who is reproducing by multiplying himself in us as the many sons of God, His many brothers- the complete God and perfect man, the Head of the Church and ruler of the Universe, the one who died to accomplish an eternal redemption for fallen and hopeless man – who can contend with Him? ‘Woe to the scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites’ (Matth.23:13) Bros & sis, please join me to read & digest all that the Lord is saying to us in all the verses of Math. 23. Verse 9 says, ‘And do not call any one on earth your father, for one is your Father, He who is in the heavens’. Don’t even craftily call them, papa, daddy, baba etc. For we all have only one Father – the One who regenerated us with His own Life and gave us to His son, Jesus Christ to redeem us. Verse 8 says, ‘But you, do not be called Rabbi, for one is your Teacher, and you are all brothers’. Christ the Head; we are all brothers- no titles, even the gifts we are given are for us to function for the edification of the saints and for the building-up of the Body of Christ. No to Evangelist ‘A’, Prophet, ‘B’, Pastor / Shepherd, ‘C’. Verses. 11 & 12 shows us how to be great in God’s House; ‘And the greatest among you shall be your servant. And he who will exalt himself shall be humbled, and he who will humble himself shall be exalted’. Which disgrace will be worse than when we must have rewarded ourselves on earth with titles, money & other worldly acquisitions and refuse to be one with him to accomplish the purpose of our redemption, instead we proudly come before Him to boast that we did this and that in His name but He replies He does not know us? Let us be wise virgins today and hear/do what the Spirit says to the Churches.
Amen. Thanks be to God for recovering these precious truths that will perfect us as His Overcomers. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the Churches. Let’s hear the Lord Himself speak to us in Matthew Ch. 23:1-2–‘The scribe’s and the Pharisees have seated themselves in Moses’s seat’. The Lord Jesus today is the real Moses sent by God to redeem God’s people from the bondage of Satan in the world. Unfortunately, today’s scribes and Pharisees — the religious leaders-the ”great men of God, generals etc’ have usurped Christ’s position and authority in ‘their churches’ (seated themselves) to bring back as many as they can back to bondage again. To be in bondage as a Christian is to be ignorant of how to touch the Lord in our mingled Spirit, live, walk and serve in spirit. Galatians 5:1 says, ‘ It is for freedom that Christ has set us free, stand fast therefore, and do not be entangled with a yoke of slavery again.’ It is better to obey God than men.
Amen. Lord grant us a sense of the Body; to know the Body, to see the Body and even to care for the Body. Help us to be rightly related with every member of the Body. This is your will, oh God. Work it out in us.
Yes dear Lord ,blend us together
Amen Grace us to be blended in the body, Lord jesus thank you
Amen Lord Jesus.. supply us more of Yourself. Make us being dependent on You. We take You as our Head and everything. Through Your life we become as one. We are being knit and joint together as one for the Building of Your Body.Amen