OUR COMMITMENT FOR OVERSEA PROPAGATION
Message One
Closely Following the Ministry of the Age
Scripture Reading:
Eph.4:11-12 And He Himself gave some as apostles and some as prophets and some as evangelists and some as shepherds and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints unto the work of the ministry, unto the building up of the Body of Christ.
1 Tim.4:6 If you lay these things before the brothers, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, being nourished with the words of the faith and of the good teaching which you have closely followed.
In Every Age There Has Been the Work of Ministry
“Ministry” refers to the work of the Lord’s move on the earth. 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…. 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.
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.
The beginning of the Lord’s recovery was also this one ministry. In this ministry the most prominent one used by the Lord was Brother Watchman Nee. Besides him, there were other co-workers who were bearing the burden of the work of this ministry with him.
A Christian Needing to Be in the Lord’s Ministry in this Age
Now we have already seen clearly that the ministry spoken of in the Bible does not refer to a person, but to God’s building work. Moreover, in God’s building ministry, there are those who take the lead in that ministry in every age. May the Lord open our eyes to see that as long as we are human beings, we should be Christians; as long as we are Christians, we should enter into the Lord’s ministry in this age.
Today there are thousands of people who believe in the Lord Jesus and are saved, but not many have entered into the Lord’s ministry of building the church. It is just like the situation in Noah’s age. There were thousands of people on the earth, but only a small number were building the ark with Noah. This is why Philippians 2:12 says, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” What Noah and those who built the ark with him were doing was to work out their own salvation. Yes, it was God who had saved them, but the ark that delivered them was built with their own hands by God’s grace. Today, we also need to be in God’s building ministry to work out our own salvation, that is, to bring our salvation to its ultimate conclusion so that we can be exalted by God in glory as the Lord Jesus was. (Words of Training for the New Way, Vol. 1, msg. 2)
Since We Have the Up-to-date and Ultimate Vision,
We Should Closely Follow after It
Since we have the up-to-date and ultimate vision, we should closely follow after it. We are absolutely not following a man; rather, we are following a vision. It is grossly wrong to say that we are following a certain person. We are following a vision that belongs to the present age. It is God’s consummate vision.
I would like to relate to you one fact. It is the Lord’s mercy that He has revealed to me the vision. I advise you not to follow me but to follow this vision which Brother Nee and all the servants of the Lord throughout the ages have left to us and which I have handed to you. This is indeed the vision that extends from the first scene of Adam to the last scene of the New Jerusalem. More than fifty years have passed. I have seen with my own eyes that those who take the way of the Lord’s recovery for a while and then leave do not come to a proper ending. There is only one way. All spiritual things are one. There is one God, one Lord, one Spirit, one church, one Body, one testimony, one way, one flow, and one work. If you do not take this way, you will have no way to take. (Crucial Words of Leading in the Lord’s Recovery, Book 1: The Vision and Definite Steps for the Practice of the New Way, ch. 2)
