Msg One 1 – God’s Economy and Eternal Purpose – the Church

A Vision of Building Produces One Ministry and One Work

Ministry is a stewardship in God’s household, but most people who call themselves “ministers” don’t even realize there is a stewardship or a household! And of course they do not grasp the building up of the Body of Christ.

God is building the Church universally. Jesus said “I will build my Church.” However we can have a part to play in God’s household and there are rewards related to building. When Paul talks about rewards in 1 Corinthians 3, he uses “building” language”:

“According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.” 1 Corinthians 3:10-15 KJV.

If you don’t even know there’s a building, then you don’t even recognize what ministry is, and if you don’t know what ministry is, chances are you’re working with wood, hay, and stubble. We don’t have to know everything. The main thing is to be filled with Jesus. Keep it simple and focused purely on Christ Himself. Don’t be waylaid by all these other “ministries” which aren’t ministries — they’re just making merchandise of the saints. If they’re not focused on Christ, it’s not a ministry.

There’s only one ministry– it’s the New Testament ministry of the Spirit which gives life. It’s handled by stewards who have been found faithful and proven. They’ve been through trials and testing because they minister not just in words, but also in power, so that life is released. There’s nothing you can do to make that happen… Jesus is the only one who has authority to give His life. All you can do is submit to the Lord and let Him bring you through the trials and testing to consume your outer man, while building up your inner man. This refinement causes you to no longer trust in your flesh, but to lean on Him, so that when you speak, you’re speaking out of the comforts He provides. You aren’t pretending to be something you’re not and you’re not adulterating the word. You’re speaking forth the riches of Christ with the view unto the economy.

God’s economy is one of the pure things I gained from Witness Lee’s ministry. Unfortunately he had a lot of other doctrinal issues and I cannot in good conscience ever steer anyone towards that ministry. It took me 12 years to sort out the damage from these other issues in his teaching. He did not truly understand grace and as a result many of these truths were spoiled and became a crushing demand. However, the basic truth concerning God’s economy, the building up of the Church, and the New Testament ministry is undeniably the word. I see the scripture through the lens of God’s economy and I can’t “unsee” it. I’ve searched it all out and am firmly persuaded from the word. This is what I see in the word: God has a household and in this household, Christ is the supply for the children who are being raised up to be His expression for eternity. This is the masterpiece of God! I felt so futile for so long because nobody talks about this anywhere except in a group I can never go back to, but I feel a release when I talk about it.

It’s important to see though, that God’s economy is not a burden for us to take up — this is just a vision…to see as Abraham saw that there was a city whose builder and maker is God. From time to time, it’s good to see what is God doing. He doesn’t want something from you in terms of anything outward. He’s after something intrinsic. He wants Christ to be wrought into you. Do you have a vision that Christ is in you? Have you begun to see that Christ is everything in the Christian life? Have you begun to enter into that freedom and rest, knowing He’s taken all the responsibility and you only need to enjoy Him?

The product of the administration (God’s economy, the oikonomia) is ultimately the wedding supper when everyone is seated and enjoying the feast. Jesus said if you’re a faithful steward providing meat in season to God’s household, when He comes, He will gird you and serve you food in this rich coming feast (Lk 12:37). We receive foretastes of it today. When God’s economy is working, you see people sitting at the table fellowshipping and breaking bread. It may not be a literal physical togetherness in today’s virtual world, but the fellowship is full of the bread of life, which is Christ Himself. This is an enjoyment, not a work.

God’s way of operating in His economy is to provide Christ as food and drink to be our satisfaction. This is the emphasis of the book of John. John reveals what the stewardship looks like in its most mature form. John ministered Christ as the Word, in His unsearchable riches, to the children as food and drink — to be their supply and show them that Christ is the living water. He showed that Christ is the fountain within us, that Christ is rivers of living water to come out of us, that Christ is the bread, the wine, the food and drink. He’s our rest, our sabbath. He’s everything.

John’s ministry is the fruit of Paul’s revelation. The book of John is the most mature example of what stewardship looks like and it produces enjoyment and satisfaction while equipping us to handle Christ as food and drink. We realize we’re not just dealing with words, we’re dealing with Christ. When we speak Him, we have the privilege of supplying Him as life to others and it builds up God’s abode, His household, in which He’ll be glorified. This is the crux of what John is all about. It’s a language we’re not very familiar with, so I occasionally speak it to acclimate people. It’s merely the language of Ephesians and Colossians. It’s not theological or made up language. This is the pure word the apostles gave us. The words they used were not of human wisdom, but wisdom given to them by God for our glory.

Paul said, “And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought.” 1 Corinthians 2:4-6 KJV. This is God’s language and the language of His household. This language is the stewardship — it’s Christ Himself as supply. It’s the New Testament ministry, producing the body of Christ.

We need a vision of the Body of Christ to understand what ministry is. Ministry is for the building up of the Body of Christ. Even the role of evangelist is for the equipping of the saints — unto the work of the ministry for the building up of the body of Christ. There should not be a divergent aim between teachers and evangelists. Some evangelists will say, “I’m out there using any tactic I can to win the lost,” and then the teacher has to undo everything the evangelist did that became a stumbling block and kept the saints from growing. Some evangelists use the bait and switch method to get people into the kingdom. These evangelists don’t have building up of the Body in view, only the saving of souls. The vision of God’s economy unifies us in our purpose, but there is no unity of purpose where everyone does their own thing while labeling it “ministry”.

God has a ministry called the New Testament ministry and those who are approved for that ministry are stewards who will speak a certain kind of language. I encourage you to read and memorize Ephesians. When you do, you’ll know this language of God’s household and you’ll realize it’s not my language, it’s the Bible…it’s God’s language and it’s the wisdom and the mystery of Christ. This language is openly known. It’s not some secret that God hid from us, it’s a secret He hid for us until the death of the testator could occur, so that He could distribute the contents of the household and now nothing can stop it. He wants to bring it all to light and make known to all the saints what are the riches of the glory of this mystery.

So all this is New Testament ministry. We preach the gospel according to the revelation of the mystery. As Paul said in Romans 16:25 KJV, “Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began.” It’s not just that Jesus died for your sins and now you can go to heaven. No, Christ died and rose again to supply you with the Spirit so that He can come into you to be your life. He now wants to supply you with everything and He wants to be everything to you. He wants to become an enjoyment to you, so that you are satisfied. In your satisfaction, you begin to overflow and rivers of living water come out of you to supply others. And then those others will supply others and the vine grows, the household is built, the fellowship spreads, the enjoyment increases, and the feast becomes full.

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