The Intrinsic and Organic Building Up of the Church as the Body of Christ – Week 3
The Intrinsic Building Up of the Church for Its Organic Function
Related Verses
Eph. 4:11-12
11 And He Himself gave some as apostles and some as prophets and some as evangelists and some as shepherds and teachers,
12 For the perfecting of the saints unto the work of the ministry, unto the building up of the Body of Christ,
Matt. 16:18
18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
1 Cor. 3:6, 8-9, 12-14
6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God caused the growth.
8 Now he who plants and he who waters are one, but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor.
9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s cultivated land, God’s building.
12 But if anyone builds upon the foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, grass, stubble,
13 The work of each will become manifest; for the day will declare it, because it is revealed by fire, and the fire itself will prove each one’s work, of what sort it is.
14 If anyone’s work which he has built upon the foundation remains, he will receive a reward;
1 Cor. 14:3, 12
3 But he who prophesies speaks building up and encouragement and consolation to men.
12 So also you, since you are zealous of spirits, seek that you may excel for the building up of the church.
Suggested Reading
In order for the church to be built up intrinsically, the ascended Head must first give the gifts. Second, the Head-given gifts, the apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds and teachers, perfect the saints. Then the perfected saints build up the Body directly. Some have taken the Lord’s promise in Matthew 16: 18—“ I will build My church”—to say that it is not we who build the church but Christ. They say that we are not qualified to build up the church. This concept and teaching is absolutely wrong.
Ephesians 4 reveals that the Head, Christ, builds up the church by making the saints gifts, and by giving these gifts to the church for the building up of the Body of Christ. This shows that the Head does not build up the church directly. Furthermore, the gifted persons, who are used by the Head to perfect others, do not build up the church directly either. They perfect the saints, and the saints do the direct building work. Many of us in the Lord’s recovery who have been under the watering, the perfecting, for a number of years have been enabled to build up the church in our locality directly. The perfected saints are the direct builders of the church. (CWWL, 1989, vol. 4, “The Organic Building Up of the Church as the Body of Christ to Be the Organism of the Processed and Dispensing Triune God,” p. 300)
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The four categories of gifts were given by the ascended Head to His Body for a particular purpose…. The Greek word translated “perfecting” [in Ephesians 4: 12] means “equipping, supplying the functions.” In order to be capable and sufficient to perform a certain task in any field of labor, people need to be equipped, or furnished, with certain things…. The apostles, prophets, evangelists, and shepherds and teachers were given to perfect the saints by equipping them with what they need to do the work of the ministry. The perfecting of the saints by the gifts results in the work of the ministry.
The preposition unto is repeated in verse 12, and the work of the ministry and the building up of the Body of Christ are in apposition, indicating that these two phrases denote the same thing. The perfecting is carried out with a view to the building up of the Body of Christ. In brief, the gifted persons were given to the Body for the perfecting of all the members so that they could build up the Body…. Although the perfecting and the work of the ministry, which is the building up of the Body, are clearly revealed in Ephesians, we cannot see these things among Christians today. Regrettably, our church life has been lacking in these things as well.
Some of Christ’s gifts to the Body are apostles; others are prophets, evangelists, or shepherds and teachers. An apostle is a sent one. Evangelists preach the gospel to save sinners, bring them into the Triune God, and make them members of the Body of Christ. Shepherds and teachers continue the work begun by the evangelists by caring for new believers so that they will grow. We have found that the best way to do this is by having weekly meetings in the homes of the new ones to cherish and nourish them…. Shepherding and teaching go together in raising up new believers. In the meetings of the church the prophets function by speaking for God and even speaking God forth. We can see this clearly in 1 Corinthians 14. Even the Old Testament books of prophecy like Isaiah are composed mainly not of predictions but of speaking for God. The brothers and sisters who speak in the meetings speak Christ. Even in a short word we can speak Christ to others. This is to prophesy. (CWWL, 1988, vol. 2, pp. 18-19)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1989, vol. 4, “The Organic Building Up of the Church as the Body of Christ to Be the Organism of the Processed and Dispensing Triune God,” ch. 3
Corporate Reading of “Truth Messages” Chapter 4 – Sections: The Ministry In The New Testament Economy; One Ministry; Personal Ministry And Corporate Ministry