THE UNIQUE WORK IN GOD’S ECONOMY
Message Fifteen
Being a Proper Person in the Church, the Ministry, and the Work
Scripture Reading: Eph. 2:10; Phil. 2:13; Eph. 3:17a; 4:16; Matt. 16:24; Rom. 12:4-5
I. The principle in God’s work is to gain persons and by gaining them to have a way to go on to carry out His economy—Acts 9:15; 13:1-2:
A. The right priority is not for us to work for God but for God to work Himself into us—Eph. 2:10; Phil. 2:13.
B. God’s unique work is to work Himself in Christ into His chosen people, making Himself one with them for the Body of Christ—Gal. 4:19; Eph. 3:17a; 4:16.
C. It is not that we work for the Lord but that He works on us; therefore, we should not be merely the Lord’s workers but the Lord’s work—2:10.
D. In the church the most important thing is the person; the importance of the person far exceeds that of the work—2 Tim. 2:20-22:
1. What we are is more important than what we do.
2. We cannot serve God beyond what we are as a person.
3. The kind of person we are determines the kind of fruit we produce—Matt. 7:17-18.
E. If our person is wrong, we may build up something by what we do but tear down more by what we are.
II. If we have seen the Body, we will conduct ourselves in the church, the ministry, and the work in a way that is without ambition, without self-boasting, without making comparisons, and without blaming others for their mistakes—Rom. 12:4-6a; 1 Cor. 12:12-27:
A. We should not attempt to show off and boast concerning our work—1 Cor. 5:6; James 4:16.
B. We should not take credit for our success, and we should not be reluctant to give up our work.
C. We should never consider that we are doing something more excellent than others—Phil. 2:3.
D. In doing the Lord’s work, we know only to labor, to die and be resurrected daily, and to live and walk in the Spirit—1 Cor. 15:10, 31, 45b, 58; 16:10; 6:17.
E. In carrying out God’s New Testament ministry, we need to apply the fivefold standard established by the Lord Jesus in His ministry: Not doing anything out from the self; not doing our own work; not speaking our own word; not doing anything by our own will; not seeking our own glory—John 5:19; 4:34; 17:4; 14:10, 24; 5:30; 7:18.
III. In the church, the ministry, and the work, we must beware of pride—Prov. 16:18; 1 Tim. 3:6; 6:3-4:
A. When a person is proud, he follows Satan, and consequently he will be judged with Satan to suffer the judgment prepared by God for him—3:6.
B. Rivalry in the Lord’s work is a sign of ambition and pride—Phil. 1:15-17; James 3:16.
C. Caring for our prestige and neglecting others’ dignity are a sign of pride.
D. Referring to our capacity, success, perfection, and virtue is a form of pride.
E. If we desire to live the life of the Body of Christ, we should not think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think—Rom. 12:3.
F. Pride means blindness and darkness—John 9:39-41.
G. If we do not cooperate with the Lord to deal with ambition, pride, and self-justification, and if we are not conformed to the death of Christ, the outcome among us will be division—Phil. 3:10.
IV. We must be right in following others; that is, we should be careful in following any co-worker whom we appreciate and to whom we are attracted—1 Cor. 4:16; 11:1; 1 Thes. 1:6; 2 Tim. 3:10; Heb. 13:7:
A. The one whom we follow should be a person loving the Lord, living for the Lord, and renouncing his self, natural life, preference, and ambition—cf. 2 Tim. 3:14.
B. The one whom we follow must hold the complete revelation of the entire Holy Scriptures without any twisting or deforming—2 Tim. 2:15.
V. Today there are four kinds of workers:
A. The first are the co-workers who match the need of the ministry of God in the present age; this is a small group of people who have been dealt with by the Lord and who are in one accord.
B. The second kind are the younger co-workers; they are willing to receive the direction and to come under the coordination of the older co-workers, and they are willing to follow and to learn in humility.
C. The third kind are those who are unwilling to submit to the senior co-workers, who do not belong to the denominations, yet who are happy to remain in fellowship with us.
D. The fourth kind are the preachers and free evangelists among the denominations.
E. What we need today are the first and second kind of co-workers.
F. Concerning the third and fourth kind of co-workers, we can only let them choose their own pathway; with some people God has not assigned them to take the same way as we do, and we dare not say anything to them.
G. Whatever the situation may be, we are here to do the work that God has committed to us; we cannot interfere with others’ work, and we are not here tearing down others’ work.
VI. A person who touches God’s heart and is an overcomer in the eyes of God is one who is living in the Body and practicing the Body life—Rom. 12:4-5:
A. Such a person is not spiritual individually and is not overcoming individually; rather, he understands clearly that he is a member of the Body—v. 5; 1 Cor. 12:12, 15, 20, 25.
B. The most important thing is whether or not we are living in the Body; our being in the Body will have eternal value in the sight of God—Rom. 12:4-5.
