«　WEEK 8　DAY 2　»

　　Eph. 3:8 To me, less than the least of all saints, was this grace given to announce to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ as the gospel.

　　2:15 Abolishing in His flesh the law of the commandments in ordinances, that He might create the two in Himself into one new man, so making peace.

　　Paul dispensed Christ into all the believers. Receiving such a dispensation through Paul, the believers could then grow with the supply they had received. By this we see that Paul's ministry was a dispensing ministry, a ministry of dispensing the unsearchable riches of Christ into our being so that we may grow and become the church. Paul dispensed Christ's riches not only into the saints individually, but also into the Body corporately. (Life-study of 1 Corinthians, p. 299)

　　The apostle Paul wrote the book of Ephesians in a very meaningful way. In chapter 1 he shows how the Body of Christ is produced and exists out of the dispensing of the Triune God. Then in chapter 2 he begins from another angle to show the history of those who have been worked on by God's dispensing to become the Body of Christ. With that as the background, he shows that the church, a precious thing that was produced out of God's dispensing, is a masterpiece, a most beautiful poem in the universe, that the angels love to sing. Whenever the angels see a sinner saved, they sing. When they see the church, they will surely sing all the more. Then Paul shows that in Christ's death and resurrection He used His divine element as the material to produce a universal new man. Finally, this masterpiece, this new man that can accomplish God's eternal economy, is brought to God in one Spirit, having drawn near to God, without any barrier whatsoever, and remains in the presence of God to receive God's continual and eternal dispensing. Like a steady stream, God dispenses Himself little by little into those who have a part in this new man. It is this continual, steady, eternal dispensing that coordinates them together, constitutes them together, and builds them up together. This built-up church is God's kingdom on earth for the executing of His administration. It is also the household for the dispensing of His love, and as such, it becomes His eternal habitation in our spirit. (CWWL, 1990, vol. 3, “A Deeper Study of the Divine Dispensing,” p. 499)

　　Not many ministers or workers in today's Christianity… are actually dispensing the riches of Christ into the members of God's royal family. The stewardship of God is needed for this rich, all-inclusive, preeminent Christ to be dispensed into the members of His Body. This stewardship is the ministry in the New Testament. The New Testament ministry is the dispensing of the unsearchable riches of the all-inclusive Christ into the members of God's family. The stewardship of God is according to the economy of God. With God it is a matter of economy; with us it is a matter of stewardship. All the saints, no matter how insignificant they may seem to be, have a ministry according to God's economy. This means that every saint can dispense the riches of Christ into others.

　　The desire of God's heart is to dispense Himself into man. This is the central point of the whole Bible. God's economy is to carry out the dispensing of Himself into man. We share in this economy through our stewardship, our ministry of dispensing the riches of Christ. After the riches of Christ have been dispensed into us, we need to take up the burden to dispense them into others. With God these riches are His economy; with us they are the stewardship; and when they are dispensed by us into others, they become God's dispensation. When God's economy reaches us, it becomes our stewardship. When we carry out our stewardship by dispensing Christ into others, it becomes the dispensation of God into them. Hence, we have the economy, the stewardship, and the dis­pensation. (Life-study of Colossians, pp. 90-91)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1990, vol. 3, “A Deeper Study of the Divine Dispensing,” ch. 13