ministry quote of the week

THE LIMITATION OF THE BODY

If you are simply a believer, you can act as you please, but if you are a member of the Body, then you must allow yourself to be limited by the other members. Here we find the necessity of the cross. The cross leads to the Body, and the cross operates in the sphere of the Body. If I am quick and another is slow, I must not insist on keeping my own pace; I must allow myself to be limited by the slow member. If I am a prophet, then I must give way to the evangelist when it comes to the matter of preaching to the unsaved. I should not feel the need to preach just because I have the gift of prophecy. "To each one of us grace was given according to the measure of the gift of Christ" (Eph. 4:7). It is essential for the development of the Body that we each recognize our measure and not go beyond it. This is a basic requirement for the growth of the Body.

The Body of Christ is not only a protection to the members but a limitation to all the members. Every Christian is but one member in the Body of Christ and must accept the limitation of the Body. We should not allow ourselves to go our own way; rather, we should learn to be blended with other brothers and sisters. Individual dispositions and peculiarities have no place in the church. Every member should honor the talents of others and be faithful to his own. Moreover, every member should know his own capacity and not consider himself more highly than he should. If everyone does this, there will be no jealousy, ambition, or craving to do what others can do. In 2 Corinthians 10:14 Paul said, "For we are not extending ourselves beyond our bounds, as if we did not reach you." Yet many people have not seen their own capacity. As a result they overstep their boundaries. Those who over- step their boundaries are trampling others under their feet; they are kicking others, pressing upon others, and usurping the portion of other members. If members behave this way in the church, some will begin to monopolize while others will withdraw, and the result will be a loss to the church. We should not behave in this way. We should turn back and take our place in the Body and be limited by the Body. If we do this, the Body will be spared from damage.

Watchman Nee on Constitution

Here is a quote from Watchman Nee that I bookmarked a few months ago. The more the truth is constituted into us, the more we attract others to pursue the truth! As this occurs, the Body of Christ will grow. 

This excerpt is precious to me. Enjoy...

The work of God's overcomer is to stand upon Christ's death so that others can gain life. The words of the Bible must first be realized by us before we can preach them. The light of the truth must first become life to us before it will become light to others. God makes His overcomers first see a truth and confirm such truth before He gains some others to obey this truth. Truth must first be constituted in us and become a part of our being. We ourselves must first have the experience of faith, prayer, and consecration before we can tell others what faith, prayer, and consecration are. Otherwise, we will only have the terms without the content. God wants us to go through death first after which He will give others life. We first must pass through the sufferings and the pain before others can have the life. The reason the church cannot gain the victory by crossing over to the good land is that there is a shortage of priests who will stand in the bottom of the Jordan. Those who stand in the bottom of the Jordan will create a seeking heart in others. If a truth is deeply constituted in us, it will attract others to pursue the truth. Today, many of God's truths need to be constituted in man. When we allow a truth to be constituted in us, we are allowing the Body of Christ to grow one more inch. The overcomers are those who receive life from above to supply the Body. 

Quote of the Week

"If God leads you to walk a way that you know, it will not benefit you as much as if He would lead you to take the way that you do not know. This forces you to have hundreds and thousands of conversations with Him, resulting in a journey that is an everlasting memorial between you and Him."

- Watchman Nee

"Everything depends on God's mercy"

That is the title of the first message given by Watchman Nee during the resumption of his ministry in September, 1947. I probably need to read this message again....

It can be found here: Collected Works of Watchman Nee, Vol. 57: The Resumption of Watchman Nee's Ministry, ch.1. And is also available online at www.ministrybooks.com.

Quotes of the Week

"It is true that we face difficulties in our work. But whenever we encounter problems and difficulties in the work, such as opposition and rejection, we discover whom we are really serving, what is the center of our service, and for what we serve. This was the problem between Paul and Barnabas. During times of trial, the attraction of the work, the natural human elements, and our own inclinations drop away; our work begins to be purified. Our service must not be based on natural attraction, human affinity, our own inclinations, the attraction of the brothers and sisters, or the work itself. It must be only based on God."

- Watchman Nee

What is consecration?

When I was in England I heard of a brother by the name of C. A. Coates. Someone once gave one of his books to the Queen of England. The Queen read the book and was helped by it. However, Coates had written eight books. When I was in England, I asked the British brothers, "Since Coates has eight books, why would he not give the other seven books to the Queen?'' The brothers did not say anything. They acted as if I had said something wrong. Later, I asked some other people and learned that a common English person could not give a book to the Queen. Even if you tried to give her a book, she might not necessarily accept it.

Consecration is God honoring us. It is not a favor we grant to God. Rather, it is God's acceptance of us and of our possessions. Hence, it is God's honor to us. We are not granting Him a favor; He is granting us a favor. For God to accept persons such as we is the greatest privilege He can grant to us. If I kneel before God and He sends a fire to consume the sacrifice, it is His favor to me in accepting my service. Man thinks that he is sacrificing himself by consecrating to God. Little does he realize that God's accepting him is His mercy. Why do we have to calculate so much? We have to learn to push our way through to serve Him, to crawl before Him, and to kneel before Him. A man should learn to humble himself before God. We are not begging you to go to God. Rather, you should beg to go to Him yourself.

(Collected Works of Watchman Nee, The (Set 3) Vol. 57: The Resumption of Watchman Nee's Ministry, Chapter 20, p. 205)

What is the church?

In the past all the churches tried to invite gifted co-workers to work, preach the gospel, and edify their saints. But I would ask a question: What is the church? The church is where everyone rises up to serve. The church is not just a few people like Witness Lee, Watchman Nee, and Peace Wang. Only when the entire Body rises up is there the church. The church is the Body of Christ, and everyone is useful. We should never think that we have the church as long as we have a wooden table to conduct the Lord's table or that we have the church as long as we have a few strong members. The church involves all the material, that is, all the one-talented ones coming together to serve. Not everyone has to be like Brother Lee before he can be a piece of material. The church is not a conglomeration of five-talented ones; it is not a corporation of two-talented ones. It is a Body composed mainly of one-talented ones. When men like you and I come together to serve, we have the church. When all the one-talented ones are coordinated together, that will be a potent force. Only by serving this way will we have a strong church.

You should not put your hope on better and stronger ones coming to join you. You can gospelize the place where you are with the number you have now. In a strong church a great evangelist would be treated just like one of the brothers. Suppose there is a church with two or three hundred people. There may not be any five-talented and two-talented ones. Perhaps all the saints are one-talented ones. You may think that something is lacking, but if all these so-called "untalented" ones would coordinate together, God would have a way to go on. Never think that you are too short. A person like yourself is more than qualified. I believe that the age of giants is over in the church life. Perhaps in the next generation, the so-called "giants" that we have now will disappear altogether. Today is the end time forgiants. What God wants today is the service of the whole Body. Today God forbids any member from becoming too strong. What He wants is a strong church.

(Collected Works of Watchman Nee, The (Set 3) Vol. 62: Matured Leadings in the Lord's Recovery (2), Chapter 2, Section 4)

Quote from Watchman Nee

Brothers and sisters, you need to aspire to be ministers of life to others. Do not ever be disappointed that you are not as eloquent as others, or that you do not have as much Bible knowledge as others. As long as you live in life, you will be able to supply life to other members. Some people begin to pray in the prayer meeting right after they are saved. Their prayers may be very awkward, but when others touch them, they receive light and supply. Yet after these ones have been Christians for a period of time, the life supply in them becomes less and less. Having lived the Christian life for a few years, they pick up much knowledge and many doctrines, yet there is a lack of the supply of life. The supply of life is not a matter of knowledge but a matter of freshness. It is better to have less knowledge and less doctrine than it is to lose the supply of life. We should ask the Lord to deliver us from our inability to supply life and should pray that we live before Him in a genuine way. If we live before the Lord and are in touch with life, we will supply others with life and wash their feet every time we contact them. They will receive the freshness of life and be recovered spiritually.

You can read the rest here.