THE UNIQUE WORK IN GOD’S ECONOMY

Message Fourteen
Being God’s Fellow Workers in the One Work of the Lord’s Recovery

Scripture reading: Eph. 4:4-6; S.S. 7:11-12; 2 Cor. 3:6; 6:1a; 1 Cor. 3:9, 12-17; 15:58

I. Our work is the work of the Lord’s recovery for the building up of the Body of Christ; this work is according to the heavenly vision of the crystallized significance of the Body of Christ—Acts 26:19; 9:1-6:

A. This crystallized significance is that the Triune God is constituted with His chosen and redeemed people to become a divine-human constitution, a constituted entity of divinity mingled with humanity—Eph. 4:4-6.

B. If we all do the work of the Lord’s recovery, there will be the one Body; we all must see the Body and do the work of the Body; for such a Body, the Lord has only one work on this earth—Eph. 4:11-16.

C. In the Body there are no regions, and there are no Jews or Gentiles; even though Peter and Paul worked in different regions (the Jewish world and the Gentile world), they had only one work to build up the Body of Christ—Gal. 2:7-8.

II. According to the picture in Song of Songs 7:11, Christ’s lover wants to carry out with her Beloved the work that is for the entire world (fields) by sojourning from one place to another (lodging in the villages)—S.S. 7:11-12:

A. To share in the work of the Lord, we need the maturity in life, we need to be one with the Lord, and our work must be for His Body—2 Cor. 6:1a; 1 Cor. 3:9.

B. The Shulammite works as Solomon’s counterpart, taking care of all the vineyards—the churches and the believers on the whole earth—S. S. 7:12:

1. This indicates that our work should be for the Body, not simply for one city; we must have a work that is for the entire world—cf. v. 4.

2. This is what Paul did by establishing local churches and then working to bring them into the full realization of the Body of Christ—Rom. 16:1-23.

III. We need to be God’s fellow workers in the one work of the Lord’s recovery according to the following principles—2 Cor. 6:1a; 1 Cor. 3:9, 12-17:

A. Every local church must bear the testimony of the Body of Christ—Rev. 1:12:

1. A local church should not give people the impression that it bears a particular characteristic with a particular color or a particular flavor—c.f. 1 Cor. 1:12-13.

2. If we would all take care of this, we would never do things that fit only in our local church; we must do things that fit in all the local churches and that would not damage or confuse the testimony of the Body of Christ.

B. We should do everything under the consideration of all the other churches, trying to be the same as the other churches—1 Thes. 2:14a:

1. The Lord has only one move by one ministry to produce and build up one Body to bear one unique testimony—Eph. 4:16; Rev. 1:12.

2. We must consider that to be different from the other churches is a shame and an insult to the Lord’s recovery; to make a little difference in your local church from all the other churches is a serious thing.

C. Do not promote your place.

D. Do not attract people to your place—cf. 1 Kings 12:28-30:

1. When you go out to minister or to have fellowship, do not exercise yourself in a way to attract people to you, to your work, or to your place—2 Cor. 4:5.

2. We are not the attracting center, but the Ark and the tabernacle, Christ and the church, should be the attracting center—Eph. 5:32.

E. Do not say that your way is better—cf. Gal. 5:25-26.

F. Do not measure the other churches and especially do not measure people by your experience and by your way—cf. Phil. 2:3-4.

G. Always avoid doing anything or saying anything that would stir up the concern of the saints—cf. 1 Thes. 2:1-12; 1 Tim. 4:12.

H. Do not be suspicious of others—6:3-4; cf. John 12:6; 13:29.

I. Do not work and care only for your church or for the local churches in your territory but for the Lord’s entire recovery—cf. Rom. 16:4; 1 Cor. 12:28.

J. Do not cut yourself off from the Body—1 Cor. 12:14-22:

1. We must maintain a good fellowship with all the members in the Body, not stumbling anyone and recovering the backsliding ones—Matt. 18:6-10, 20.

2. Learn to forgive others and seek to be forgiven by others—vv. 21-35; 5:23-24; Eph. 4:32.

K. Minister life wherever you go and build up the churches wherever you are—1 John 5:16a; 2 Cor. 3:6; 1 Cor. 15:58.

L. Consider all the churches, all the co-workers, and all the saints the same—Phil. 2:2.

M. Do not build a special group around you—cf. 1 Cor. 1:10-17.

N. Do not try to convince others that your way is the best; do not do anything or say anything that would damage the Lord’s recovery—cf. 3:17.

IV. If we would work with the Lord for the Body, we need to work by a life that is all-sufficient and all-mature, able to fit all situations, that is, able to endure any kind of treatment, to accept any kind of environment, to work in any kind of condition, and to take any kind of opportunity, for the carrying out of the ministry—John 14:6a; Acts 27:22-25; 2 Cor. 6:1-13.