Books:
- Basic Principles for the Service in the Church Life shows that proper spiritual service is a matter of life and is in and for the Body of Christ..
- In Everyone Speaking the Word of God Witness Lee encourages the believers to speak for God by speaking the word of God to one another.
- Functioning in Life as Gifts Given to the Body of Christ shows that the growth of life in every believer is always for their functioning as a member in the Body of Christ.
- Meeting to Speak the Word of God outlines the purpose of the church meetings—that the believers would come together to speak the word of God one by one.
- Speaking for God conveys the Lord’s commission to His people to enter into the truth and be equipped with the truth in order to care for new believers.
Affirmation & Critique (A&C):
Two installments of “Glossa” contributed by Roger Good address the need for the function of the members of the Body in mutuality for the building up of the church:- “Members of the Body of Christ”
in the October 1998 issue (III:4) considers the language used to describe the Body of Christ, specifically in terms of the relationship between its members, which is maintained by the fellowship of the divine life common to all the members. - The section titled “The Functioning of the Members in Mutuality for the Building Up of the Body” on page 6 of the article “God’s Building“1 in the October 2005 issue (X:2) examines the subject of the members of the Body of Christ functioning in mutuality from Paul’s Epistles, in particular from Ephesians 4:11-16 and 1 Corinthians 14
Radio Broadcasts:
- “Transformation in Practicing the Body Life (2)” (Romans, program 27) considers the believers’ enjoyment of grace and the exercise of their gifts for the practice of the Body life as seen in Romans 12:3-8.
- In “The Gifts Perfecting the Saints” (Ephesians, program 37) Witness Lee expounds Ephesians 4:11-12 which shows that although the basic elements of the Body are one, the gifts are many and varied, and certain gifted persons were given by Christ to His Body in order to perfect the saints to do the work of the ministry for the building up of the Body of Christ.
- “The Growth of the Members for the Building Up of the Body” (Ephesians, program 41) shows that the supply of the leading ones in the churches and the operation in measure of each member “causes the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love” (Eph. 4:16).
Videos:
Hank Hanegraaff speaks about the practice of prophesying, in which every believer has the opportunity to speak for Christ.
Hank Hanegraaff and Elliot Miller discuss the practice prophesying, in which all of the members of the church practice speaking for and speaking forth Christ from God’s Word (1 Cor. 14:1, 3-5, 26).
Ministry Excerpts
- Service in the Body: The Lord gives the members of the Body of Christ various gifts and ministries to supply the whole Body. The church must provide ample opportunity for all the brothers and sisters to serve. Every brother and sister is a member in the Body and every member has his or her function and service.
- Serving In the Body: If we read Acts or the Epistles, there is not a single reference to a person working independently for the Lord. The Lord’s work is entrusted to many workers, and these workers do not work individually but corporately. When they move, it is the move of the Body.
- The Manifestation of Functions–Gifts–Through the Growth in Life: Without the growth in life, spiritual abilities and functions cannot be expressed. Without Christ’s life, we cannot be the members of the Body of Christ, and we do not have the function of the members or the spiritual gifts.
1 This is page 71 in the printed journal.