We are being Perfected to Function for the Direct Building up of the Body of Christ

We all need to be perfected to function in our measure for the direct building up of the Body of Christ; when all the saints are perfected by the gifted ones, they will do the work of the ministry, and the Body of Christ is built up.

We need to be saved from the wrong concepts or practices regarding the building up of the Body and be brought back to the God-ordained way to meet and to serve for the church. It is a mistake to think that we can build up the church with things from our natural life, our fallen man, or earthly things.

It is a mistake to think that there’s a hierarchy in the church, that the gifts the Lord gave the Body are “special” and are “higher” on the hierarchical ladder in the church.

May the Lord grant us a vision of what the building is; in His eyes, building is the corporate expression of the Triune God.

We see this portrayed in the Old Testament with both the tabernacle and the temple – when the building was completed, the glory of God filled the building of God.

In Eph. 3 we see that unto Him there is glory in the church, and in Rev. 21 the New Jerusalem has the glory of God.

Building is the corporate expression of the Triune God who has been wrought into our inner being.

As the Lord is saving us in life, will enable us to be buildable, and that will be the building with the Triune God wrought into us.

The Lord Jesus said in Matt. 16:18 that He will build His church; this is a very important statement, and its full meaning is not easy to comprehend.

We can say that there are at least two aspects of how the Lord Himself is building up His church: first, He is building Himself into us by making His home in our heart (Eph. 3:16-17), and second, He builds the church through the many members of the Body who are perfected and function in their measure in the Body.

In Eph. 3 we see that the Lord is building Himself into us by making His home in our heart; we need to open our heart to Him and allow Him to settle down in us, change things around as He pleases, and let Him remove the things that are not according to Him in our inner being.

In John 14:23 the Lord said that if we love Him and keep His Word, the Father will love us, and He will come and make His home with him; this is God in Christ making His home in our being to build Himself into us and us into Him for the building of God, with the result that we become part of the corporate expression of God.

In addition to His building Himself in us, the Lord does things in the principle of incarnation; He lives and works through us, and in particular, He has given some gifts to the Body.

The gifts the Lord as the Head gave to the Body are not so that these gifted ones would replace the saints and function in a greater measure to build up the Body; rather, they are for the perfecting of the saints so that the saints may directly build up the Body of Christ.

We all are being perfected unto the work of the ministry, which is the building up of the Body of Christ; as we function in our measure, the Body is building itself up in love.

The direct building up of the Body will never be done by the gifted members but by the perfected saints who function in their measure.

The Head Produced a Small Number of Gifts for the Perfecting of the Saints unto the Work of the Ministry, unto the Building up of the Body of Christ

In organised religious Christianity, seminaries train preachers so that they would function to a greater extent than anyone else; their view is not the perfecting of all the saints but the training of some professional “gifted” members to function.

Such a thing is abhorring in the eyes of God, for He hates the clergy-laity system; such a system annuls the function of all the members in the Body and tears down the building up of the Body of Christ, making it an organisation, even organized Christianity.

In the church life, we may not have an outward clergy-laity system but we may still consider those engaged in the full-time service, the elders, or those who speak the messages in the conferences to be an “upper class”.

We need to be renewed in our mind to realize that, even though in the Body of Christ none is higher or lower, the Lord as the Head of the Body prepares some brothers for the perfecting of others so that the saints would do the work of the ministry for the direct building up of the Body of Christ.

The perfecting of the saints is unto the work of the ministry, unto the building up of the Body of Christ.

This word “unto” in Eph. 4:12 means resulting in, for the purpose of, or with a view to; we are being perfected with the view to us functioning in our measure for the direct building up of the Body of Christ.

The Head of the Body produced a small number of gifts, those who can be considered as “five-talented” members; these are not for them to make their own little kingdom or empire in the country where they live but rather, they are to perfect the saints unto the work of the ministry!

Brothers such as Paul, Peter, Martin Luther, John Nelson Darby, Watchman Nee, and Witness Lee, were produced by the Head not to do the direct work of the building of the Body but for the perfecting of the saints.

These gifts given by the Head to the local churches (1 Cor. 12:28; Acts 13:1) are for the perfecting of the saints in the meetings of the church, for the saints’ watering (1 Cor. 3:6), so that the saints may function in a perfected way for the direct building up of the church.

The apostles teach the truth, raise up churches, and speak the word of the ministry, having the teaching and the fellowship of the apostles; they perfect others to do the same thing.

Paul was an apostle produced directly by the Lord through the divine revelation from Him; Timothy, however, was perfected by Paul to be an apostle and do the work of an evangelist.

Evangelists preach the gospel for people to be saved, and they also perfect the saints to preach the gospel, being infused with the love for men and the spirit of the gospel to care for sinners and lead them to salvation.

The prophets speak for the Lord and speak the Lord forth for the building up of the church, and they perfect the saints to also function in the meetings by speaking the Lord forth.

The shepherds and teachers function to shepherd the saints, cherish and nourish the new believers, and teach the truth; furthermore, they perfect the saints to the same thing.

As members in the Body, we need to open to the Lord’s making His home in our heart, and we also need to open to the perfecting of the gifted members so that we may function in the same way they do yet in our measure, for the direct building up of the Body.

The gifts that Christ, the Head of the Body, gives to the church are not for them to do a great work and become someone; they work on the perfecting of the saints so that they would do the work of the ministry unto the building up of the Body of Christ.

Originally, only a small number could speak the truth, cherish and nourish the believers, preach the gospel, shepherd, and perfect others, but now, after the perfecting of the saints, the many members of the Body can do the same work for the direct building up of the church.

The gifted members reproduce themselves into all the members of the Body to equip them and facilitate their function so that the perfected members of the Body – all the saints – would do the work of the ministry, which is the building up of the church.

Lord Jesus, make Your home in our heart more today for the building of the church! We open to You and we allow You to settle down in our heart. Build Yourself into us for the building up of the Body. We open to You, Lord, and we are willing to be perfected by the gifted members so that we may function for the building up of the church. We open to the perfecting in the meetings of the church so that we may do the work of an apostle, evangelist, prophet, and shepherd and teacher to build up the Body directly. Amen, Lord, may there be such a perfecting going on today so that the members of Your Body, all the saints in the church life, would be perfected and function in their measure for the building up of the church!

The Saints are being Perfected by the Gifted Members to Function for the Direct Building up of the Body of Christ

The gifts given by the Head to the Body, the gifted members, are joined together in coordination to perfect the saints in the church and bring out their function (Eph. 4:12).

As the saints are being perfected by the gifted members, they function to do the work of the ministry, the building up of the Body of Christ.

The apostles, prophets, evangelists, and shepherds and teachers, all are joined in coordination; they build upon what others have done and develop it.

Each one of them releases their portion, and they bring out the function of the saints, for they equip the saints for the saints’ function to directly build up the church.

Each one of the saints has a function, a portion, that is vitally necessary in the Body; the Body may go by without the function of a member, but it is lacking when a member doesn’t function.

We all need to be perfected by the gifted members so that we would do the work of the ministry, the direct building up of the Body of Christ.

The Bible reveals a scriptural way for us to meet and to serve, and we thank the Lord that in the church life we can practice this way.

First, we need to be perfected to preach the gospel so that we may save sinners and bring them into the kingdom of God through regeneration; this is to be perfected to do the work of an evangelist.

Then, we need to learn to cherish them and nourish them, feeding them by visiting them in their homes so that they may grow in life; this is to be perfected to shepherd and teach others.

After this, we need to be perfected to speak in the meetings of the church and also perfect others to speak for the Lord, prophesying for the building up of the church; this is to be perfected to be a prophet for the Lord.

We all can learn to preach the gospel, take care of the new ones, feed them, and have mutual asking and answering of questions in the group meetings to perfect one another. And on the Lord’s Day, we can prophesy in the district meetings of the church for us to build up the church directly.

Today the building up of the Body depends not on the gifted members but on the operation in the measure of each one part.

We all need to receive the Lord’s perfecting in the Body so that our function would be supplied and manifested for the direct building up of the church.

We need to daily pursue growth in life by living a life of being revived every morning and overcoming every day.

We need to be equipped with the truth by prayerfully studying the truth and speaking it, and we need to be perfected to preach the gospel every week, visit the new ones in their homes to cherish and nourish them, and practice being perfected to function in the meetings of the church.

The more we open to the Lord in His Body, the more we are perfected and trained so that our function would be manifested, and we will do the work of the ministry for the direct building up of the Body of Christ.

Honestly speaking, it will be only at the end of the millennial kingdom that all the saints will be perfected and will function in their measure for God to have a corporate glorious expression; however, we want to pay the price today to be perfected and function.

The Lord needs not only the recovered church life in the Lord’s recovery but also the saints who are identified by the Lord as the overcomers, those who are doing what the majority of God’s people should be doing – those who are perfected to function in their measure for the direct building up of the church.

May we give ourselves to the Lord for this and tell Him,

Lord Jesus, we are willing to consecrate ourselves to You for the building up of the church. We are willing to give ourselves to You and to the Body so that we may be perfected and our function would be fully manifested for the direct building up of the Body of Christ. Amen, Lord, perfect us so that we may function in our measure for the building up of the church. We are here for the building up of the Body. Have mercy on us, Lord, and perfect us. We do not want to let You go on this matter: may we and may all the saints be willing to be perfected so that we may function in our measure for the direct building up of the church. May we all learn to preach the gospel to save sinners, cherish and nourish the new ones to feed them and help them grow, and be perfected to function in the meetings by prophesying! Amen, Lord, make us Your overcomers today, those who are not passive but active and willing to be perfected to function as members in the Body for the building up of the Body for You to gain Your corporate expression!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by the brothers for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1988, vol. 2, pp. 15-21, 23-31, 35-40, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Intrinsic and Organic Building up of the Church as the Body of Christ (2021 International Chinese-Speaking Conference), week 3, The Intrinsic Building Up of the Church for Its Organic Function.
• Recommended further reading: the book, The Perfecting of the Saints and the Building Up of the Body of Christ (by Witness Lee), and, Elders’ Training, Book 09: The Eldership and the God-Ordained Way (1), Chapter 7, by Witness Lee.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Grant us, Lord, a willing spirit. / To build Your Body we would strive. / By our measure we would function, / Until full grown we’d all arrive. / As the members of His Body, / Each one is now a life supply. / Serving Christ to one another, / In love, His Body built thereby. (Song on, Outpoured for His Body)
  – All the preaching of the Gospel, / All the teaching ministry, / Every other kind of service / For the church alone should be. / Ministry is for the Churches, / Not the Church for ministry; / All the lampstands are the Churches, / Not a form of ministry. (Hymns #914)
  – ’Tis by serving in the Body / Riches of the Head we share; / ’Tis by functioning as members / Christ’s full measure we will bear. (Hymns #913)