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God’s Building 112

We could identify many reasons, but I would like to emphasize just one
point, and that is the shortage of truth. This is an underlying problem. There
is a shortage of the proper understanding of the truth. For example, we are
short of the truth concerning living under authority and representing God’s
authority. What a word this is! What if all 1,500 brothers in this training were
clear on this truth? If we were all clear about this truth, we could end the
training and everyone will have total peace.
Needing to Know the Truth to Guard against Different Teachings

In the past, we have had several turmoil in the United States and I
watched how brother Lee responded in his wisdom and experience. One
major response was that he said, “If the saints know the truth, this will never
happen. This kind of turmoil and rebellion occurs from time to time, but if
you had just known the truth, it could not have happened.” This is true. If I
come here today and I speak to you something that is not according to the
Bible, what would you do? Unless you know the truth, you will just say, “Oh
yes, amen, amen.” I may come to you and say, “Dear brothers, according to
the Bible, the way we should administrate the church is to have a hierarchy.
This is what the Bible teaches.” Or I may say, “Brothers, in the Body we
have different levels. We have the ministry and the ministry is in charge of
the work, and the work is in charge of the churches, and the saints are under
the elders.” Even before I finish the sentence you should say, “No! Sit down!
The Bible does not teach that!” But if you do not know the truth, especially if
I say it in a convincing way, you may just say, “Amen, amen.”
The past rebellions all had one common factor: different teachings.
We know from 1 Timothy 1 that even in Ephesus there were some different
teachings. The Apostle Paul was in Ephesus for 3 years, and he taught and
visited the homes of the saints there. Wouldn’t you like Paul to stay in your
locality for 3 years? But after all of that, some in Ephesus taught differently.
Brothers, unless you know the truth, you can be very easily cheated.
Knowing the truth must start with the Bible. You must dive into the Recovery
Version and into the ministry for your whole life. You cannot do it in a year;
it takes your whole lifetime. I would like to recommend the book Authority
and Submission. Read that book. Read about what the ministry says on the
church, the ministry, and the work. There are no levels in the Body of Christ
and there is no hierarchy. There are only two levels: the Head and the Body.