Loving the Lord and Loving One Another
for the Organic Building Up of the Church
as the Body of Christ
Message Four
The Organic Body of Christ
Building Itself Up in Love
OPENING WORD OF THE PROPHESYING MEETING
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
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.
15-16 But holding to truth in love, we may grow up into Him in all things, who is the Head, Christ, Out from whom all the Body, being joined together and being knit together through every joint of the rich supply and through the operation in the measure of each one part, causes the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love.
Word of Appetizer
How is the intrinsic building up of the organic Body of Christ by the direct building by all the members—into the Head and out from the Head?
In order to be built up, we must hold to truth in love, growing up into the Head, Christ, in all things. Out from the Head, in the divine dispensing, all the Body is joined closely together through every joint of the rich supply and knit together, interwoven, through the operation in the measure of each one part. The joints supplying and the parts functioning cause the growth of the Body unto the building up of the Body itself in the divine love. The love that is the very element, the inner substance, of God; it is the love of God in Christ, which becomes the love of Christ in us, by which we love Christ and the fellow members of His Body.
Spiritual Burden
The direct building of the organic Body of Christ is by the Body itself. The Body is built directly by all the members of Christ functioning, each in his own measure, mainly in prophesying—speaking for the Lord…This direct building by all the members of Christ takes place through the perfecting work of all the gifted persons under the bountiful supply of the divine element of the ascended Christ in His ascension. We need to practice [this] so that we can see the reality of such an organic building on this earth.
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
The intrinsic building up of the organic Body of Christ is by the giving of the gifted persons (such as apostles, prophets, evangelists, and shepherds and teachers), who are constituted in the dispensing of the Divine Trinity, by Christ as the Head in His ascension (including His resurrection), to His Body.
The intrinsic building up of the organic Body of Christ is by the gifted per-sons’ perfecting of the saints in the divine dispensing so that all the saints may be able to do the work of the New Testament ministry, that is, to build up the Body of Christ.
The intrinsic building up of the organic Body of Christ is by the direct building by all the members—into the Head and out from the Head.
The Experience of Life
The more Christ ascends and descends within us, capturing and vanquishing us, the more He fills us with Himself to constitute us as gifts to His Body.
The love in which the Body builds itself up is the love; it is the love of God in Christ, which becomes the love of Christ in us. It is in the condition and atmosphere of such a divine love that we are saturated with God to be holy and without blemish before Him; it is in such a divine love, realized and experienced by us in a practical way, that we are rooted for growth and grounded for building.
Practice and Application
In order to be built up, we must hold to truth in love, growing up into the Head, Christ, in all things. We must hold to the divine truth of God’s eternal economy, of the all-inclusive Christ, and of the church as the Body of Christ. We must be subject to the Head, Christ, and allow His divine life to expand and increase into all our inward parts.
The love in which the Body builds itself up is the love, by which we love Christ and the fellow members of His Body. It is in such a divine love that we need to walk—to live, act, and have our being—as the beloved children of God, who are God-men, born of God, possessing the life and nature of God, and belonging to the species of God, to be imitators of God.
PROPHESYING TOPICS—TWELVE TOPICS PER WEEK
Day 1
T1 Wherever the Ark, a type of Christ, went, the victory was won (Psa. 68:18; Num. 1:35)
(Please illustrate that what is portrayed when the Ark ascended triumphantly to the top of Mount Zion.)
T2 It is by this universal traffic that the gifts have been given by Christ to the Body (Eph. 4:8-10)
(Please illustrate the way Christ gave gifts to men.)
Day 2
T1 We had been taken captive by Satan before we were saved (Eph. 4:8)
(Please illustrate that when Christ rescued us from Satan’s captivity and took us to Himself.)
T2 He descended and ascended in order to fill all things (Eph. 4:9-10)
(Please illustrate with experiences that through His descending and ascending, Christ will fill us with Himself.)
Day 3
T1 The work of the ministry is the building up of the Body (Eph. 4:11-12)
(Please illustrate that the building is not directly by the gifted persons but the perfected saints.)
T2 The gifted persons perfect the saints (Eph. 4:11-12)
(Please illustrate how the gifted persons perfect the saints.)
Day 4
T1 Every member of the Body of Christ has its own measure and can function (Eph. 4:16)
(Please illustrate that what “every joint of the rich supply” and “each one part “[in Ephesians 4:16] refer to.)
T2 Without shepherding, the apostles, prophets, and evangelists cannot function (John 21:15-17)
(Please illustrate that Shepherding and teaching are the essential functions given by Christ the ascended Head to the churches.)
Day 5
T1 To hold to truth in love (Eph. 4:15)
(Please illustrate that what arethe three true things here refer to.)
T2 To grow up into Him in all things, who is the Head, Christ (Eph. 4:15)
(Please illustrate with experiences that in everything big or small, such as the way we dress, the way we comb our hair, the way we shop, and the way we speak, we should take Christ as the Head, submitting under His headship.)
Day 6
T1 Neither faith nor love are ours; they are His (Eph. 3:17)
(Please illustrate that His faith becomes our faith, by which we believe in Him, and His love becomes our love, by which we love Him.)
T2 We must function either as joints of supply or as parts operating (Eph. 4:15-16)
(Please illustrate that we should not think that only the joints are useful; no member of the Body of Christ should despise himself.)
