Learning To Have the Spirit of the Ministry (2)


	Learning To Have the Spirit of the Ministry (2) Whom we announce, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom that we may present every man full-grown in Christ; for which also I labor, struggling according to His operation which operates in me in power. For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those in Laodicea, even all who have not seen my face in the flesh-Colossians 1:28-2:1. A Spirit For The Perfecting of The Saints The spirit of the ministry is for the perfecting of the saints. When we prophesy, we must learn to have the spirit of the ministry. On the one hand, our spirit is for the entire recovery, and on the other hand we must have a spirit for the perfecting of the saints within each locality. Prophesying for Perfecting When you are seeking what the burden should be or even while you are speaking, you should consider how your prophesying might perfect the saints. If you do not know how to perfect the saints, you are not qualified to speak for the Lord. A true minister perfects those who hear him. If you cannot perfect others, your message is merely that - just a message. Giving messages and ministering for the Lord should be considered as two different things. The main emphasis behind giving a message is the message itself. Ministry, however, has as its goal the perfecting of those who hear. Giving a message is fairly easy. Anyone can collect some facts and put them together according to a theme for an impressive and even touching message. A person burdened only about his message, though, is not truly interested in whether or not his hearers get any help. As far as he is concerned, his job is simply to speak what he has prepared. To minister for the Lord is different. When someone ministers, he has a burden, he has a purpose, he has truth, he has content, he has revelations, and he has inspiration. But most importantly, he has the perfecting of the saints in view. A brother met for some time with a group led by a famous preacher, and then began to meet with us. His comment after one of Brother Lee's trainings was, "When I listen to Brother Lee, I feel he is so relaxed, and I really enjoy his speaking. When that other preacher preached, he always seemed to tire out, and by the time he finished speaking, I felt tired too!" Why did that brother feel tired, and why did the speaker also appear tired? The famous preacher made use of philosophy to make his messages seem high and transcendent. He mentioned people like Aristotle and Socrates. This made his messages seem profound, but it did not necessarily perfect his listeners. Becoming a Person with a Spirit of Perfecting Prophesying is for perfecting. Therefore when you prophesy, you must have a spirit of perfecting. In other words, you must learn to become a perfecting person. The Lord has gained many people for His recovery, and they all function in different ways. There is a real lack, however, of those who can perfect others. Brother Lee is the most spiritual apostle among us. He perfects us all. We are his fruit. Not only has he brought many to salvation, but he has also perfected many. Many leading brothers and many who love the Lord in many different localities can testify that they received so much help from his sharing. Why do people become different after being under Brother Lee's ministry, and why do his messages help people? It is because he is someone who is able to perfect others. If you are someone who speaks and yet does not perfect others, you are probably someone who cares more for his message than for his hearers. Those who minister for the Lord focus on people. They are willing to sacrifice their message for the sake of the real need. The person who is focused on giving a message, however, feels satisfied if his message went well; he will not really care how much the saints received from it. A prophet must not overly focus upon his prophecy. If prophesying does not perfect people, it is just vanity. It may even be considered a good message, but if it cannot produce something real in the hearers, it is of little value. How can we be those who perfect others through our prophesying? The key is to always have the saints' perfecting in view, even in our daily life. This is an urgent need in the Lord's recovery today. Whether in the East or the West, we are desperately short of those who can perfect others. We need saints with clear vision, rich experience of life, and solid equipping in truth. When such brothers attach themselves to the saints, the saints can be perfected. We do not lack brothers who can speak. There are many experienced and manifested brothers who are traveling around giving conferences. When someone begins to travel widely to give messages, he may feel that he is serving the Lord in the topmost manner. Some who are invited to give conferences even become addicted to speaking. I want you to know that this is not the way to serve the Lord. You should measure your effectiveness by those you have raised up and how many you have given yourself to, not by how many conferences you have given. We often consider prophesying as preaching. This is not the case. Prophesying is for the perfecting of the saints. If we are not burdened with others' perfecting, we will be unable to prophesy. There are many topics in the Bible, and there are many riches of truth among us. Many can study and apply terms and give good messages. In so doing, however, they should not think that they are being useful to the Lord. The Lord does not desire that you give messages. He desires that through your speaking you might gain people for Him. What matters is not how well you speak, but whether or not people are gained for the Lord through your speaking. If no one is gained through your speaking, your speaking is useless, regardless of how well you speak. The Lord doesn't want your messages. What He wants are people, gained through your prophesying. Therefore, as you prophesy, you must learn to look at people and focus upon them. A brother once told me, "Titus, in your area there are so many churches that have been raised up and so many saints in the church life." That is true, but according to my feeling it is not a matter of how many saints or churches there are, but of how many people have been perfected. If I cannot perfect others through my speaking, my speaking is in vain. This is why I do not like to travel so much anymore. Brother Lee once said, "I am afraid of traveling," but I did not understand what he meant at the time. Now I do. He had become wary of giving messages. I too have become afraid of giving messages. I do not have a burden to give messages. I only have a burden for people. Because of you, I am full of burden. Were it not for you, I would have no burden to speak. If you desire to perfect people through prophesying, you must exercise yourself to become a perfecting person. When you prophesy, you must be careful not to attempt to conquer others nor to compromise with them. The purpose of your prophesying should be to perfect them for the Lord's recovery. Having the spirit of ministry is not only a matter of life, but also a matter of the ministry of life. Life and the Ministry of Life Having life is different from having the ministry of life. Having life does not guarantee that you indeed have a ministry of life. When we believe, we receive the divine life. When our spirit is released, life is released. When some share, they become very inspirational, making people nervous. Sometimes such a brother speaks very well, but when you ask him to repeat what he has shared, he is unable to do it, for that is not his portion. In other words, that is not his ministry. If you have the Spirit, you have life; if you have life, you can supply life. A true prophet's ministry, however, is not something merely of inspiration, but of constitution. He is not someone who speaks well one day because he is inspired and then speaks poorly another day because he has lost his inspiration. A true prophet is a man of anointing and a man constituted with life. Only such a person can have the ministry of life, and only a person with the ministry of life can supply life in a reliable manner. Without the ministry of life, a person might supply life, but not consistently. A Spirit of Supply Another reason a person may be unable to supply life is that he does not fulfill his ministry before the Lord properly. Instead, he ignores, or neglects, his ministry. If his spirit is weak, if he does not respect his portion, or if he does not live in life and in the nourishing of the riches of life, he will not be a dependable source of life-supply to others. Thus, we must be able to use our spirit to supply life to the spirits of others. In the process, we need the Lord's mercy and should ask that He would continually constitute us with His life. It is not an easy matter to speak for the Lord. If we are careless and if we are not experiencing the constituting work of the divine life in our daily life, we should not expect to be able to supply life to others through our prophesying. The Constitution of the Ministry of Life If you desire to be constituted as a prophet, that is, if you desire to be constituted with the ministry of God's word, then you must have a living that is regulated by the divine life. Only then can you be constituted with the ministry of life. If you do not have any constitution of life, you will not be able to speak for the Lord. Even should you fast and pray and repent, your speaking will only be at best like the speaking of Balaam's donkey. The Lord may be forced to use you, since you are the speaker, but after you conclude your sharing, you may be put aside by the Lord as one who is of little worth. We have to be careful about our prophesying. There are many who are speaking for the Lord, but what really matters is who the speaker is. It is not a small matter to minister for the Lord. We must pray, "Lord, I need Your mercy in my speaking. I desire to supply life to the saints, so I ask You that I might be constituted with the divine life and its riches, and richly possess the feeling of life, the manifestation of life, and the testimony of life. I desire not only to be a person living in life, but also a person through whom the divine life can be ministered to others." If you serve the Lord in this way, you will respect yourself, your speaking, and your portion. You will not look down on yourself. When you speak in oneness with the Lord, your word will be able to build up the church, perfect the saints, and adequately supply life. The Spirit of Support and Guidance When we speak, we should have the spirit of support and guidance. Therefore, what we speak must be understandable to those who hear us. Speaking with Understanding If your speaking is too difficult for the saints, your words will not become a support to them or provide them guidance. In order to provide support, your words should be enjoyable, and in order to provide guidance, your words should be applicable. You cannot just speak things that are high and deep. Of course, this does not mean that you should not speak things that are profound, but you must take into account the ability of your listeners to grasp what you share. Generally speaking, words of support and guidance are words of comfort, encouragement, strengthening, and enlightenment. When the saints hear such words, their questions are answered. For example, if I am speaking on the first chapter of Ephesians, I might speak about the church or God's economy - high matters - but in my speaking I must provide support and guidance to the saints. I should not wield the term "God's economy" as a weapon to kill others, expecting them to see it "or else." They are our brothers; why would we desire to chase them away? If some do not yet see God's economy, we must help and support them, and guide them into it. It is wrong to rebuke. If our spirit is not one of support and guidance, we cannot build up the church. If we are not careful, however, the truth in our hand can become a weapon to beat down others in the church rather than to build them up. Although there are all kinds of saints in the church with many different views and backgrounds, we need to do our best to speak in a manner that all can receive. Our word should be easily understood. I do not mean that we should not speak something high, but what we speak must be something that can be apprehended. Words of Support and Guidance Brothers and sisters meeting in different Christian groups are still members of Christ's Body. Denominations are not members of Christ, but the brothers and sisters within them are. Denominations are not established upon the ground of oneness, and they lack the vision of the organic union and the fellowship of life. Therefore we have to guide those meeting in the denominations in a supportive way, and not in a way of judging. The Bible clearly tells us, "But to everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required from him; and to whom much has been committed, they will ask of him all the more" (Luke 12:48). In the 1995 Summer Training in Anaheim, Brother Lee spoke on the Song of Songs, which describes the love relationship between the Lord and his believers. Many of you were there. After hearing these messages, did you not have the feeling to tell the Lord, "I desire to rise up and come away; in the clefts of the rock, in the covert of the precipice, I want You to see my countenance and to hear my voice" (cf. Song of Songs 2:14), or did you simply shout slogans? One day the Lord will ask us, "What did you do with all that you heard?" I was impressed during that time with how much the Lord appreciates the one who believes in Him. In the beginning of this book, the Shulamite says, "Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth! For your love is better than wine….Therefore the virgins love you. Draw me; we will run after you…" (1:2-4). Later she said, "I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys" (2:1). After this she didn't say so much. Instead, the Lord began to speak out His appreciation for her. After Brother Lee ministered on this book, I marveled that the Lord could ever hold me in such esteem as He did the Shulamite. If the Lord were to look at me today and say, "O prince's daughter, what about your feet? What about your neck?" (7:1, 4), I do not think I would have anything to show the Lord. After following the Lord for these past forty years, I still do not feel that such words fit me. I cannot confidently say, "Lord, I am Your Shulamite." I perhaps can say as one who has led in the church for many years, "I am a wall, and my breasts are like towers" (8:9-10). However, concerning the Lord's central focus in this book, can I respond to His word (2:14)? Can I say, "Yes! I am willing to give up everything and go with You. I am willing to be with You in Your resurrection and ascension in order to experience Your death and the power of Your resurrection"? We must understand that these messages are not for our mental understanding, but for our support and guidance. Brother Lee's word always has this in view. Our speaking should in like manner provide support and guidance to the saints. The purpose of our speaking should be that the saints would experience growth. A Supporting and Guiding Spirit, Not a Spirit of Condemnation We should not merely give high messages - even concerning the high peak of the divine revelation - without caring about whether or not people can understand them. We should not use high terms just to be accepted. Every society is selective. If we want to be accepted in any particular society, we have to be able to speak their language. If we are not careful, the church life will be in danger of becoming a religion with the high peak teachings, yet without the living Christ. We must not fall into a situation where others must speak a certain way before they are fully accepted as "one of us." We should help people to speak according to the truth that we have received, but we should not reject others simply because they do not speak as we do. For example, we have used the word "economy" for many years. Actually, "economy" is just another word for "dispensation." In the recovery, however, we all use the term economy. To many, if someone does not use the word economy, that person is off. What should we do? We should support and guide. We should help others to understand the reason why we use the word economy instead of dispensation. (Dispensation focuses on the process, whereas economy focuses on the entire picture. Dispensation is the act, while economy is the overall plan and operation. We do not change the terms lightly. The word economy is a more appropriate word to convey what the Lord has shown us.) If we desire to teach the saints in this way, we must have a spirit of guidance and support rather than a spirit of condemnation. May the Lord have mercy that we all may become constituted with the ministry of life for the perfecting of the saints and the building up of the Body.