Ⅰ
God's good pleasure, His heart's desire, is to meet the demand of this age, which is God's need in this age:
A
God does not need "spiritual giants" any longer in this age; what He needs is the Body testimony, which is the reality of the Body of Christ consummating in the New Jerusalem; this is to fulfill the Lord's heart's desire according to His word concerning the building up of His Body—Matt. 16:18; Eph. 4:1-16.
B
Verses 15 and 16 say that all the members of the Body grow up into the Head and function out from the Head; thus, "all the Body" (with the supplying joints and the functioning of each one part) "causes the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love."
C
As ministers of the present age, Brother Nee and Brother Lee are patterns to us so that we may be perfected "unto the work of the ministry, unto the building up of the Body of Christ"; we are being perfected in this present age to become functioning members of the Body of Christ—vv. 11-12; 1 Tim. 1:16; 4:12; 1 Cor. 4:16-17.
D
"Spiritual giants" are a hindrance to the producing of the church ministry; we need to see what the church is intrinsically; the church as the Body of Christ is brought forth when all the one-talented ones are functioning; talents signify spiritual gifts, and each member of the Body of Christ has at least one talent—Matt. 25:14-30; Rom. 12:6; 1 Cor. 12:4, 12-27; 1 Pet. 4:10:
１
For the work of the Lord, we need the talent, the spiritual gift, that we may be equipped as good slaves to accomplish God's eternal economy; surely, we must make all the five-talented ones serve and the two-talented ones serve, but even more, we must make all the one-talented ones serve.
２
When five one-talented ones are put together, they equal one who has five talents; if all the one-talented ones in the church today would bring forth their talents, there would be no need for so many great gifts among us; just by the coming forth of the one-talented ones, the whole world will be conquered (cf. Acts 17:6b)!
３
If our work does not bring out the one-talented ones, our work is a failure; 2 Timothy 2:2 and Ephesians 4:11-12 are the way of our work today; only those who teach others to work will succeed in the work; today the building up of the church hinges on the perfecting, building up, and raising up of the one-talented ones; what is needed today is men who can lead others into their function in serving the Lord for the church, not men who will replace others in their service.
Morning Nourishment
Eph. 4:15-16 But holding to truth in love, we may grow up into Him in all things, who is the Head, Christ, out from whom all the Body, being joined together and being knit together through every joint of the rich supply and through the operation in the measure of each one part, causes the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love.Today…God no longer needs spiritual giants. He needs the testimony of the Body. Today we only need to be members. A small member is a member, and a big member is also a member. No member can be the whole Body. When the whole church rises up to preach the gospel, others will say that the church saved them; they will not say that Dr. So-and-so saved them…. This is not the time for the co-workers to serve the Lord by themselves but the time for the whole church to rise up to serve Him together. (CWWL, 1932-1949, vol. 2, p. 242)
Today God is doing the work of recovering the Body testimony. The gifts that He has given are for the perfecting of the saints for the ministry. One or two specially gifted workers no longer can fulfill the task; all the brothers and sisters can preach the gospel, heal the sick, edify the saints, and save the lost. The church can beget, be established, be revived, be firm, and rise up to serve. It will be built up like the New Jerusalem and be strong. (CWWN, vol. 62, p. 271)
Today’s Reading
We have to recover the kind of preaching [of the gospel] that is done by the whole church. We do not need to invite people with big advertisements. Rather, we should ask all the brothers and sisters to invite people individually…. In this way the whole church will be able to rise up to serve. This kind of service will be the whole Body serving together. If we have only a few serving today, we have not reached God’s standard. [Today] God wants to bring in the ministry of the church and the service of the church. In China and even in the whole world, there seem to be no great evangelists being raised up. Not only are there no new ones being raised up, but the old ones are passing away. Some should not have passed away according to their age or their ministry, but they did pass away. This is probably because spiritual giants are a hindrance to producing the church ministry….Even among the co-workers now, there is always the sense of loneliness. Although the term coordination is not there, there is a cry for the reality of coordination. (Messages Given during the Resumption of Watchman Nee’s Ministry, 1st ed., vol. 2, pp. 324, 327-328)All the problems in the church today issue from the one-talented ones. The Lord has shown us that there is not one whose gift exceeds five talents. For a span of twenty years the church may have only one with five talents, but every day the church can have five persons, each with one talent. Any one of the children of God, even the one in the poorest condition, still has one talent; and when you put five of the one-talented ones together, it equals one who has five talents. If all the one-talented ones in the church today would bring forth their talents, there would be no need of so many great gifts among us. Just by the coming forth of the one-talented ones, let me tell you, the whole world will be conquered.
You must be clear, therefore, that it is not how much work you yourselves can do or how much burden you yourselves can bear, but it is how much you are able to cause all the brothers and sisters, all the one-talented ones, to come forth to work and serve…. If it is you alone who are busy from dawn to dusk, this is not the church. If you are busy from morning to evening and you cause all the one-talented ones to work and be busy, this is the church serving, this is the church preaching the gospel. It is the church that is working; it is the Body that is acting and not several members replacing the activity of the Body. (Watchman Nee, Further Talks on the Church Life, The Stream Publishers, 1974, pp. 143-144)
Further Reading: Messages Given during the Resumption of Watchman Nee’s Ministry, 2nd ed., vol. 1, chs. 26, 45-46, 49-50