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Scripture Reading: Rom. 12; Gen. 1:26
By the mercy and grace of the Lord we have seen something of life, and we have seen that in order to experience life we need certain real dealings, including dealing with the flesh, the self, the conscience, the world, and the spirit. All these are for the practical experience of life. If we take care of all these dealings, we will attain to a point where we realize the divine life in the church life. We will realize the Body of Christ, not merely in doctrine but in a practical way in our Christian practice and Christian life; that is, we will realize the real practice of the Body of Christ. Therefore, in this chapter we will see something further concerning the Body of Christ. Although this may be a familiar subject or term for many of us, we look to the Lord that we may see something in a very practical way.
The book of Romans shows us that the final stage, or experience, of the Christian life is the stage, the experience, of the Body of Christ. Romans speaks of justification, release from sin, sanctification, and walking according to the Spirit. After all these, in Romans 12 we eventually realize the Body of Christ in our experience. If we read this chapter carefully, we will realize that Paul the apostle did not write concerning the Body in the way of doctrine. Rather, he wrote something about the Body of Christ in a very practical way.
First, he shows us that if we are going to realize the experience of the Body of Christ, we must offer ourselves to the Lord. When the apostle came to the matter of this offering, this consecration, he spoke in a very practical way, saying that we need to present our bodies (v. 1). To speak concerning the body is practical. To come to a meeting, for example, we must come in our physical body. To say that we are coming only in our mind or even in our spirit is something “in the air.” We may say, “I offer myself to the Lord,” but have we offered our body to the Lord? To offer ourselves in a way that is without our body is an offering or a consecration to the Lord “in the air.” We can only be in our body; we cannot be “in the air.” If we come to a brother or to his home, we must come in the body. If we do not come in the body, the brother will not know how to contact us. Similarly, if we offer ourselves without our body, the Lord will not be able to contact us on the earth. If our offering involves our body, it is practical. We need to offer our body to the Lord.
Second, Paul says, “Do not be fashioned according to this age” (v. 2a). The King James Version uses the word world in this verse, but the Greek word means “age,” the present part of the world, the part which is before us. The present part of the world is the age. Within the world as a whole there are many ages, age after age. Strictly speaking, we cannot contact the world without contacting the age of the world. We can compare this with being in the United States. We cannot be in this country without being in one of the states. To be in the country, we must be in a state. To not be conformed to the age, the present world, is also something very practical.
Third, we must be transformed by the renewing of the mind (v. 2b). This is something more practical; it is subjectively practical. We need to check how much we as Christians, reborn ones, children of God, have been transformed. We were born as the old creation, so everything within us is old. The mind is old, the will is old, the emotions are old, and the heart and every part of our being are old. Now, we have been regenerated and renewed in the spirit, but how much have we been transformed, renewed, in all the inward parts of our whole being? This is something very subjective and practical; it is not a mere doctrine. Merely listening to and agreeing with this does not work. We must realize that this is practical, something we must experience; otherwise, we do not have it.
We must offer ourselves in the body to the Lord, we must not be conformed to this present age, and we must be transformed by the renewing of our mind. Fourth, we have to discern, know, and test what the best will of God is (v. 2c). If we have all these practical matters, we will then attain to the point where we are able to realize the Body life, the life of the Body of Christ. We may talk about the church life, the Body life, and the Body of Christ, but the realization of the life of the Body of Christ depends on the above four practical matters, three positive and one negative. If we have the practical experiences of offering ourselves in our body to the Lord, of not being conformed to the present age, of being transformed in our old nature, and of having the discernment of the best will of God, we will have the ground to realize the Body life. At this point, we will realize that as people who are regenerated and transformed by the Holy Spirit, we are members of the Body, and as members, what we must experience is something not of this world or of ourselves but something absolutely of Christ Himself. It is at this point that we will know what it means to say, “It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me” (Gal. 2:20), and “for to me, to live is Christ” (Phil. 1:21). We will realize what it means to live not by our self but by Christ as our life, not in the way of doctrine but in the way of life and practical experience.
Today there is the urgent need of this teaching concerning the Body life, but we must realize that the teaching is not for the teaching; it is for life, for the church, for Christ. If the teaching is for its own sake, it will not work. What good is it to have the teaching only for the teaching’s sake? All the teaching must be for the church and for Christ. We can have the Body life in no way other than to consecrate ourselves in a practical way, to offer ourselves as a practical people in the body, not as a people “in the air.” Moreover, we must not conform ourselves to this present age. We must be separated, sanctified, and different from this age as a particular people, and we must be transformed. Then we will realize the Body of Christ as a life that is absolutely not independent, individual, and not of the natural self but a life which is Christ Himself to be experienced by us in a corporate way.
This Body is the ultimate intention, goal, and desire of God’s heart. What God is seeking in this universe is simply this Body. In Genesis 1, God had two intentions in His creation of man. One is to express Himself, and the other is to deal with His enemy. God created man in His own image for the purpose that man may express God. In this creation, God committed His authority to man to deal with the enemy. The image is for the expression, and the authority is to deal with the enemy of God. These are the two intentions in God’s creation of man, one on the positive side and the other on the negative side. Both the positive side and the negative side of God’s intention are a matter of a corporate Body. To express God in Christ through the Holy Spirit, strictly speaking, is not a matter of individuals but a matter of a corporate Body.
More than thirty years ago I received the knowledge that God is seeking a Body, but I did not know how to realize and explain this. It seemed that there were no human words to express, define, or explain such a divine matter, but I gradually realized more concerning the Body. We are all persons with a body. As such, we are all a very good figure or type. As persons we need to be expressed. Can our person be expressed by separate, individual members? It is true that we have ears, a nose, lips, eyes, and fingers; we have many members, but they cannot express us in a separate, individual way. We cannot cut off our ears or nose and present them as our expression. Our person must be expressed by our whole body in a corporate way. The whole body is needed to express a person. We are not bodies; we are members of the one Body. In the whole universe Christ has only one Body, and it is through this one Body that He is expressed. God in Christ through the Holy Spirit is expressed in the one Body.
God needs a Body, not merely many members. Why is the church so weak among many Christians? Why do we sense weakness, confusion, many negative things, and things other than Christ Himself in every kind of Christian group? It is because they are like a body whose members have been separated and scattered in an individual way. We cannot see a person but only separated and scattered members. To have separated and scattered members is an awful condition that causes many troubles and things that need to be cleared up. This is the real situation of Christians today. We may meet group after group of Christians, but they are separated and scattered members. When we come among them, we do not sense the reality of the Body. We do not sense that there is a Body that always expresses Christ. Rather, we can only realize separated and scattered members. Moreover, even though the members are separated and scattered, they are still able to fight one another. It is as if they are good for nothing but fighting, not with the enemy of God but with one another. This is simply because there is no realization of the Body life.
Let us consider the practical steps to realizing the Body life. If we are going to practice and realize the Body life, we first must give up our self. The word self is a small word, but it is a practical issue. In order to realize the Body life, we must always remember to give up our self, self-seeking, self-centeredness, self-opinion, self-intention, and self-exaltation. If we bring in even a small amount of self, we bring a cancer into the Body. There is no need for us to do anything more serious; to bring in only a small amount of self is enough for the enemy to damage the Body. This is why we have said that the first item of the spiritual “charter” of the church is the cross. The cross must check our self.
I do know what I am saying. What I am speaking is not a lecture; rather, I am pointing out the practical steps to realizing the Body. If we intend to practice the real Body life, we must be one hundred percent careful concerning the self. The first thing which damages the Body life so much is the self. The things of the self are the little foxes that ruin the vineyards when they are in blossom (S. S. 2:15). We may say, “I have not done anything wrong. My intention toward the church is good.” This may be true, but a little thing within us — the self — damages the Body. It is not necessary to have a big thing to damage the Body; even a little thing damages it. A small splinter can damage the eye, and when the eye is damaged, the whole body cannot work. It is the same with the self.
Second, we must lose our independence. To practice the church life we must learn never to be independent. There is no independence in the Body life; there is only dependence. None of the members of our body can be independent. Independence simply means death for the Body and death for the members. We should look at this matter not doctrinally but very practically. This is a vital matter, a matter of life and death. For a hand to declare independence means death for the hand.
You may say that you are not independent, that you are a dependent member of the Body. However, I wish to ask in a practical rather than doctrinal way: To whom are you related? If we ask a finger, it will say that it is related to the hand and to the other fingers, and if we ask the hand, it will say that it is related to the arm. These members can point out to whom they are related. However, one may be a good brother with everyone’s acclaim, but he may not be able to point out to whom he is related. He is good to every brother and sister, but he is independent of everyone and related to no one.
It is wrong to form a party with someone because we have the same opinion. This is sectarian, and it causes division upon division. However, in the church we must be related to someone. This proves we are not independent. To be related to a few saints without forming a party is a hard lesson to learn. It is easy to not be related, and it is even easier to be related with others to form a party. Two brothers may often come together, and it may seem that they are of one mind and can easily pray together. If one says, “Hallelujah,” the other says, “Amen,” and if the other says, “Hallelujah,” the first one says, “Praise the Lord.” They may seem to be of one mind, but this may not be the proper relatedness. Rather, it may be a party, a sect, a division with a sectarian spirit. This is wrong.
Still, as members in the church we must be related to someone or ones. All the brothers and sisters must be related one with another. If we say that we are practicing the church life, we must lose and give up our independence. The independent living must be one hundred percent given up.
Try to check yourself as to whom you are related. If you check with me, I would say that I am related with many saints locally and even more universally. On the negative side, if any of them would express even a little that they do not agree with what I am doing, I would stop right away and go along with them. On the positive side, what I do is confirmed and sealed by them. They are one with me in the spirit, and they may say, “Okay, brother, go ahead; we are with you one hundred percent.” Here is a real, practical, and serious lesson for us to learn. Without this, there is no possibility to realize the Body life. If we still have our independence, we may be very nice to one another, but we can never realize the Body life among us.
Third, if we are going to realize the Body life, we must seriously and heartily learn always to keep the harmony. This does not mean that in doing something wrong we are in harmony to be wrong, and it does not mean that we never have disagreements or discussions. We may even have arguments, but we must argue in harmony. It is possible to argue in harmony. Many brothers and sisters have a beautiful marriage life of arguing in harmony. A couple may invite someone to their home for a love feast and fellowship. The brother may want to serve Cantonese food, but the sister may want to prepare American food. In this way they may argue, but they still argue in harmony, happiness, and joy. This is a beautiful life and a beautiful argument. When someone comes to their home, he can sense the beauty and see how beautifully the couple argues in harmony. Of course, we must learn the lesson to be careful in arguments. Many times it is easy to be in the flesh and in the self in arguments. Yet we can still discuss many things and even argue many things for the Lord’s sake and for His testimony, interest, kingdom, and Body, but we argue in harmony. If we can keep the harmony, we can continue to argue, but if we cannot keep the harmony, we must stop the argument. Learn the lessons of keeping the harmony.
Harmony is the real expression of the oneness among the Lord’s children. There is a difference between oneness and harmony. We may say that we are one, and we may even be one, but we may not have harmony. All the parts of a piano are one, but when we play the piano, it may not have harmony. A piano must be tuned to have harmony. We may have oneness without harmony, but to be sure, if we have harmony, we have oneness because harmony is something more than oneness. The real expression of the oneness of the Body is harmony.
I have seen the beautiful harmony. When we have harmony in the church, we realize the Lord’s presence very much, and we automatically and spontaneously realize all His riches for the church. There is no need to ask for and seek the spiritual things such as spiritual infilling, outpouring, and gifts. If we simply have the harmony, all these things will come. I know what I am speaking about because I have seen this. Learn the lesson to keep the harmony.
Harmony is a very tender and deep matter. It controls and regulates us very much. If we truly have a sincere heart to keep the harmony among the Lord’s children, we will be very regulated and ruled by the heavenly reality. We will be governed, controlled, and directed by the inner life, the inner anointing, and the inner presence of the Lord. We will be controlled in acting, speaking, and even thinking, and we will be very fine in many matters. We will be very tender in order to keep the harmony. Then we can argue with one another, yet in a very tender and fine way and very much in harmony.
Fourth, we must always keep in mind that nothing is more important than the Lord Christ Himself and His Body. Always remember that all things are secondary; only the Lord Himself and His Body are primary. All things are not for themselves but for the Lord Christ and for His Body, the church. Sometimes we may do or speak something and make it more important than Christ and the church. However, all things, even teachings, doctrines, truths, and experiences, are for the church and for the Head, the Lord. We should not do anything or insist on anything in a way of damaging the church life even a little.
When I speak of the kingdom truths or other truths, I have no intention to force anyone to believe what I believe or to take the same way that I take. That is absolutely not my intention. My intention is that these truths will help others to love the Lord, seek Him more, realize the proper spiritual life, and practice the church life more and more. As long as one loves the Lord, seeks Him, experiences Him, lives by Him, and comes together with the saints to exalt and exhibit Him more and more, I am happy. I will be happy even if someone fully differs from me in certain truths. We do not have the truths for their own sake; rather, they are all for Christ and the church.
On the other hand, if someone receives these truths and agrees with them, he must not argue with others or try to convince them. We are not preaching truths; we are preaching Christ. Our intention, commission, and burden is not to preach doctrines but to preach Christ and minister Him to others. Of course, sometimes we need doctrines and truths as the means to help people to know Christ more, but the truths are not for the truths; the truths must be for Christ, the church, and the proper spiritual life. As long as people receive Christ, experience Christ, and love the Lord more and more, we are happy and praise the Lord, regardless of the truths concerning the kingdom, the rapture, or other matters. We do not care for those matters; we care for the Lord Himself and His Body. Do not go to preach these truths and argue with people about them. If we do this, we have completely failed the Lord. We must realize that the aim, the goal, is Christ and the church, the Lord and His Body.
We must keep the above four matters. We need to reject our self, give up our independence, always do the best to keep the harmony, and always keep in mind that nothing is as important as Christ and His church. When we do this, we are in the reality of the Body life. I simply present this to you in a brief way with few words. Let us try to learn these lessons. Then we will realize how practical they are, yet how much of a test they are. These are testing lessons, lessons that always test and check us. The self, the independence, the disharmony, and the overemphasis of matters other than Christ and His church damage and kill the church life.
Let us learn the lessons along this line and toward this goal. Learn the lessons to give up our self, to forget our independence, and to keep the sweet, fine, and tender harmony among the saints. Moreover, always remember that we are here for nothing but our dear Lord and His Body; this is our commission, our business. If we do this, I am assured that in a very short time we will all be in the reality of the Body life. Then there will be the real building up of the church. We can be assured that all the riches of Christ for His church will be with us and will be realized by us, and we will see a wonderful and beautiful situation. There is no need for us to seek other spiritual things. We simply need to go along with the Lord in these lessons.
