Date: April 28, 1948Place: Hardoon Road, Shanghai
A man learns restriction first through his speaking. It is very difficult for a man to control his tongue. A tongue that is under control only dares to speak words of the instructed (Isa. 50:4). The first thing we have to see is that a person who is rebellious in his speaking is one who has given himself away.
When I was in London, I met a couple who would not submit to the responsible brothers. The husband was a good man, and the wife was also a good sister. The only trouble was that they were too talkative. They testified that whenever they spoke contradicting words, their spirit became a contradicting spirit. We have to see that our spirit comes out as soon as our words come out. Both 2 Peter and Jude speak of the matter of reviling. Reviling is done through our speaking. If we are not careful and we revile the brothers ahead of us, the oneness of the church will be damaged.
Those who take in reviling words bear the same responsibility as those who speak reviling words. It is one thing for a person to dump trash on others. It is another thing for a person to receive trash from others. One of the reasons the church is divided and damaged is that there are reviling words. In order for the church to maintain the oneness, the brothers and sisters have to withstand reviling words.
Michael was an archangel. In the beginning he was under Satan. Although Satan fell, Michael did not dare to bring a reviling judgment against him even when contending over the body of Moses, which was probably left on the Mount of Transfiguration. Michael could not revile Satan. He could only say, "The Lord rebuke you'' (Jude 9). He had to invoke a higher authority to rebuke Satan. From this we see the importance of our words.
Some people's tongues are "waxed''; they are very cunning. This kind of person does not know or understand the Body. They unconsciously damage the Body with their words. It is bad enough for a man to have a wound. But if one rubs sand on the wound, the hurt will be greater. The same is true when one speaks reviling words. If a man's tongue is not under control, all other kinds of control are useless (James 3:2). Man's tongue is the most cunning of all things. A double-tongued person will soon find that he has no one he can perfect; he will turn away every possible person he can perfect. If you are an inquisitive person and one with an itching ear, you want others to talk to you and to entertain you. But those who have learned the lessons should rebuke you to your face. One need not go on speaking when he is in front of an inquisitive person; his words should stop right there.
The consciousness of sin comes from knowing God. In the same way, the consciousness of reviling words comes from the knowledge of the Body. Reviling words are opposed to the testimony of the Body.
The head manifests itself as the head by its ideas and proposals. The meaning of submitting to the authority of the Head is that one does not need to make many proposals and will not have many ideas of his own. A Christian who lives in the Body is a very simple person.
There is a basic difference between a Protestant's understanding of the Bible and a Catholic's understanding of the Bible. The Catholics think that the Pope is the only one who can make decisions on the interpretation of the Bible and that no ordinary person can interpret the Bible. The Pope's decision is the only decision. From this doctrine many kinds of idolatry have developed, including the worship of Mary. Protestantism is more advanced than Catholicism. It claims that there are as many popes as there are Christians, and that everyone can read and interpret the Bible. If we have the light, we will see that both of these views are wrong. In the Body the Lord has arranged for certain members to have the authority to make judgments on the interpretation of the Scriptures. Hence, we should not try to be a pope in haste.
For example, the Lord has raised up some brothers among us to help us concerning the way of life. If any of the brothers have any question concerning the way of life, they can go to these brothers to seek for help. In the Body there is not just one brother, but many brothers who can supply life in many aspects. If we want to receive help from them, we have to realize that they have the ministry and that they have the authority. We have to submit ourselves to their authority. This authority is given to them by the Head. If any member of my body argues with my mouth or eyes, it is arguing with the head who has established those ministries. If a member does not submit to the function of these members, it is not submitting to the head. A rebellious person exposes his rebellion first through many rash words and then through his rationalization. The simpler we are, the more we can be one with others. This does not mean that when we submit to others, we do not have a ministry any longer. In the Body we are authorities one to another.
Ministry is authority. When the Lord gives a ministry to a person, He is giving authority to that person. Many people worry about many problems, but as a member we have to learn to remove our own heads. This is the meaning of the sisters' covering of their heads. Head covering means that only the Lord is the Head. This does not mean that the responsible brothers can make any proposal they want. A person who has been dealt with is one who does not like to interfere with others' affairs. Only after we become a person who has no interest in interfering with others' affairs can we be the authority; only then can we bear responsibility before God, and only then can we manage the affairs of the brothers and sisters.
God never interferes with man, nor does He ever force man to do anything. The garden of Eden was not fenced with barbed wire, and hell does not have any fences either. If a man wants to go to hell, he can go in easily. All roads lead to hell. In the twentieth century man has invented the electric fence and supplied twenty or sixty volts of electricity to these fences. But our God never interferes with man, nor does He force man to do anything. All those who by nature like to meddle with others' affairs must be dealt with. Those who by nature like to control others can never be the authority. Those who are the authorities should let others know that they do not like to control others. They should speak only because they have received authority from the Head. A man who has been taught and who has learned to be an authority will not answer questions in a light way.
The deepest chapter in the New Testament concerning man's experience is 1 Corinthians 7. There Paul said that he did not have a commandment from the Lord. Yet up to a certain point, he said that he thought he had the Spirit of God (v. 40). Paul said that he gave the brothers his own opinion. It was as if he was saying that he had followed the Lord for twelve years, and that according to him the matter should be taken care of in such and such a way. In the end he said that in his spirit he felt that he had the Spirit of God. Because he had been dealt with by the Lord in many things, he could speak according to the principle by which he had been dealt with. He had followed the Lord for so many years and had learned so much. He was brought to the point that he could say that he knew the Lord's heart.
Abraham and Enoch walked with God. That is why they knew God's way. God did not have to tell them anything; they simply knew God's heart. It is a strange thing for a man to follow the Lord many years and yet not know the pace the Lord is taking, the direction He is turning, or the method He is using. A person who knows God's heart knows the Lord's mind even before He makes things manifest.
We need to be a person who has been taught by God and who is under control. Only those who do not speak carelessly or express their opinions carelessly can hope to be used by God. Only these ones can represent the Head. Only such people can lead the brothers and sisters on in the way ahead of them. God will never entrust authority to those who by nature like to criticize. In order for a man to submit, his head must first be cut off. If you are a person with your head removed, you immediately sense when others' heads have asserted themselves. You feel their assertion of headship like an electric shock. Once you touch them, you realize that they have asserted their headship, and that in certain matters they have rebelled. You know it because you have been judged in this matter already. This is why you can feel it when similar cases come up. If a brother has been dealt with in these two things, that is, in the matter of speaking and in learning not to assume headship, there is no difficulty in the exercise of authority. Those who cause problems in these two matters do not know what the Body is.
Witness Lee: In our contact with the brothers and sisters, we will become a movement if we pay too much attention to the outward methods. We have not spent enough time on the matter of life and revelation.
Watchman Nee: In French history there were certain persons who were called pretenders to the throne. The throne did not belong to such ones. Yet they claimed to have it. It is somewhat like the last Chinese Emperor Pu-yi, who lost his empire but continued to proclaim himself to be the emperor.
Today many people claim that they are the church or that they are the authority. Whether in the Roman Catholic Church, the Presbyterian Church, the Baptist Church, or the Methodist Church, those who claim to be the church or claim to have the authority are "pretenders to the throne.'' The Roman Catholic Church says that Peter was the first pope, and that all subsequent popes are the representatives of Christ. Today if we are a little more clever and a little less clear about the boundary line, we will fall into their error and become a pretender to the throne also.
What is the church? Outwardly speaking, the church is local. We covered this in the co-workers' meetings in 1937. But what is the content and the life of the church? If a church does not stand on the ground of the local church, it is not a church. If a local church would submit to the authority of the Head, it is spontaneously a church. In the church we are members one of another. The meaning of being members one of another is that no one keeps something back for himself. My heart is joined to all the children of God, and it is related to all the members. As members, our experience of coming into the consciousness of the Body is just as definite as our individual experience of touching the Head. The Body has a Body consciousness. This consciousness causes a member to submit to the authority of the Head and causes it to also open up itself to the Body and have fellowship with the Body. This is what we call Body-consciousness.
I will use a somewhat inadequate illustration. When a man travels overseas, he may be a foreigner in another land, but he is still under the headship of his own country. A Chinese who loves China and who lives in a foreign land may tell others that he is China; he does not say that he is a Chinese. Some foreign students are ashamed to be known as a Chinese; they often say negative things to foreigners about China. Some political fugitives are even worse; they are actively damaging China. But those who truly love China have a special consciousness about China. They can say that they are China.
A person who has the Body-consciousness can say that he is the Body. If you say that you are the Body yet do not submit to the authority of the Head, what you say is false. On the contrary, if you are in the Body, you will not just be a drop of water, you will be mingled with the sea. Therefore, you can say that you are the sea.
Outwardly speaking, the church has the locality as its boundary. But as far as its content, it takes the Head as its authority. Here all the saints are one in Christ. The local church is not just a local church as such. Within the local church, there is the testimony of the Body, and in this church everyone holds on to the Head.
When we fellowship with all the children of God, we will not criticize others easily. The basic issue is that we have to pray to God to create a Body-consciousness within us.
How do we turn from a situation that is without a Body- consciousness to one that is with a Body-consciousness? First, we have to deal with our individualism. For everything, we have to know the positive side as well as the negative side. It is not enough to merely know the positive side; we need to know the negative side as well. If we do not know both sides, we will not be able to learn the proper lessons. For example, the opposite side of sins is forgiveness, and the opposite side of justification is ungodliness. The opposite side of salvation is the world. If a man wants to understand forgiveness, he must understand sins. If a man wants to be justified, he has to be delivered from ungodliness. If a man wants to be saved, he must know the world. The Bible seldom says that a man is delivered from hell. Most of the time, it says that a man is delivered from the world. Another example is sanctification. The opposite of sanctification is being common. The word holy is hagios in the original language, and it means to be separated. The opposite of separation is to be common. All the truths in the Bible are in pairs. If we mismatch these pairs, we will be confused.
The opposite of the Body is individualism. Hence, if we want to see the Body, we must first see the negative side of the Body, which is individualism. A man must first deal with his self before he can see the Body. Many people deal with the matter of loving the Lord and of obedience. But the more they deal with them, the more they build up the self, their own righteousness, their goodness, and their holiness. This makes it even harder for them to be mingled with others and to follow the footsteps of the flock.
Individualism is the deepest thing that is hidden in a person. A man needs to be touched by God to such an extent that everything with him is dealt with. Today man only sees the personal sanctification of the Keswick movement. Why do we not speak of corporate sanctification? The sanctification in Hebrews 12 is a corporate sanctification. Today many people talk about personal faith. Why do we not speak of corporate faith? In the Bible, when it says "the faith,'' it means the saving truth, whereas "faith'' without the article refers to the act of believing. "The faith'' refers to the corporate faith of the whole church. Today man refuses to pay attention to corporate faith and corporate sanctification because he has not seen that he has very little.
A piece of glass may hold a little bit of water, but it can never hold the equivalent of a cup of water. Every Christian has received some grace, but individual Christians are not the whole. Even if they receive much grace, they can only be considered big pieces of glass. They are still two-dimensional; they are not three-dimensional. Today individuals have to be set aside. What the Lord wants is not individual pieces of broken glass, but a whole cup. God's principle is for one to chase a thousand, and two to chase ten thousand (Deut. 32:30). Today the church is filled with individuals. But wherever there are two persons who are one, they can drive out ten thousand, eight thousand of which they gain as extra profit. God wants to see the church preaching the gospel, the church teaching the truth, and the church making the money. Everything is placed in the church. Seeing the Body is one kind of salvation. This salvation is stronger and richer than the first salvation that an individual receives. Once a person has been touched by the Lord, he can no longer say that he can be an individual Christian. We need to allow God to work in us. A man develops the Body-consciousness not through thinking or deduction. Once the self is dealt with, the Body- consciousness is manifested. On the one hand, you will see that you are the Body. On the other hand, you will see that you are also a member. When a man sees individualism as a sin, he will submit to God. Once a man sees the Body, nothing will be difficult. When a man sees the Body, it will not be difficult for him to love others. When a man sees the Body, it will not be difficult for him to live by faith or to receive answers to prayers. In the Lord's work, if a man has not seen the Body, he cannot do anything. Hence, many things today hinge on seeing the Body truth.
A person has a problem with Body-consciousness because he has a problem concerning individualism. In order for a brother to become submissive, first his own ideas must go. My hands have been listening to my head for forty-five years; they never express their own ideas. They always keep their place. This is why there is no problem with my body. If my heart tries to set up another head, my body will argue with itself from morning until night. To remove our individualism, we have to tear down our own head. We have to learn to speak as one who is taught, to think as one who is taught, and to act as one who is taught. Submission is the simplest thing there is. It is difficult for a person to submit alone. But when there are many people around, it will become easy to submit. In order to submit to one another, there is the need for everyone to be dealt with.
Coordination does not come through human thoughts and opinions. If our physical body can have such a wonderful coordination, how much more wonderful should the coordination in the Body of Christ be? We believe that when Christ's spiritual Body is coordinated together, what we see will be even better and more beautiful, and its result will far exceed what we think.
