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Scripture Reading: 1 Cor. 1:1-2, 9, 10-13; 3:3-4; Eph. 4:3-6
I. The unique ground of the local churches of God — 1 Cor. 1:1-2, 9, 10-13; 3:3-4:
А. The church of God — the content of the church in its essence — 1:2a.
B. The church at Corinth — the locality for the existence, expression, and practice of the church (v. 2b); such a locality becomes the local ground of the local churches on which they are built respectively (Acts 8:1; 13:1; Rev. 1:11).
C. Those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, the called saints — the constituents as the framework of the church — 1 Cor. 1:2c.
D. With all those who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place — the recipients of this Epistle in every place other than the saints in Corinth — v. 2d.
E. Christ is “theirs and ours” — Christ is the portion of the local saints in Corinth and of all the saints in whatever place, who participate in the fellowship (enjoyment) of Christ, into which all the believers have been called by the faithful God — vv. 2e, 9.
F. Divisions among the saints are condemned by the apostle as the deputy authority of Christ the Head — vv. 10-13.
G. Christ is not divided — Christ is unique, not divisible nor divided — v. 13.
H. Division is of the flesh, according to the manner of man — 3:3-4.
I. Our practice under today’s divisive and confusing degradation of Christianity:
1. We do not and should not participate in the Catholic heresy, the Protestant denominations, and any kind of free groups of Christians.
2. But we recognize and receive the individual believers in Christ who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, who are redeemed by His blood and regenerated by the Holy Spirit, and who are not factious (Titus 3:10), not making divisions (Rom. 16:17), not worshipping idols, nor living in sin (1 Cor. 5:11), even if they are still related to any of the above-listed divisions.
3. We are one with all the believers who are in the Lord’s recovery throughout the world.
4. We do not have any creed; we have only the unique Bible properly translated and interpreted by and according to the Bible itself.
II. The unique oneness of the universal Body of Christ — Eph. 4:3-6:
А. The unique oneness of the universal Body of Christ is of the Spirit, which oneness believers should not break but keep diligently in the uniting bond of peace — v. 3.
B. In the whole universe there is only one unique Body of Christ, with the Triune God as its contents — vv. 4-6:
1. The one Spirit as the essence of its contents.
2. The one Lord as the element of its contents.
3. God the Father as the source of its contents, who is over all and through all and in all triunely.
C. The blending of the universal Body of Christ:
1. God has blended the Body together (1 Cor. 12:24):
а. The blending of all the individual members of the Body of Christ.
b. The blending of all the churches in certain districts.
c. The blending of all the co-workers.
d. The blending of all the elders.
2. Such a blending is not social but the blending of the very Christ whom the individual members, the district churches, the co-workers, and the elders enjoy, experience, and partake of.
3. For the building up of the universal Body of Christ (Eph. 1:23) to consummate the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:2) as the final goal of God’s economy according to His good pleasure (Eph. 3:8-10; 1:9-10).
Prayer: Lord, how we thank You that You have brought us through all the previous fellowship. We believe You will give us a glorious conclusion. You are the Alpha and the Omega. We trust in You. Lord, thank You that all the time we depend upon Your mercy, Your blessing, Your provisions, the Word and the Spirit, and Your presence. Lord, without these we are just like a dead dog. We can do nothing, we can have nothing, and we can be nothing. Lord, this is what we are. But we trust in You. You are everything to us for the purpose of making us the same as You are in life and in nature but not in Your Godhead. We thank You for this. We worship You. The main point that You have unveiled to us in these days is that You want to have a group of people to be remade through regeneration, sanctification, renewing, transformation, conformation, and glorification to be the same as You are. We thank You for Yourself. Amen.
The ground of the church and the oneness of the Body of Christ are old subjects to us. I have been speaking about these things for over sixty-five years, but these subjects are very critical. Within the past fifteen months the Lord has raised up over three hundred new churches around the globe, and these new churches must be clear about the local ground and the universal oneness. The ground is concerning the churches of God, and the oneness is concerning the Body of Christ. The ground and the oneness are unique, which means that the ground for the church and the oneness for the Body are just one.
First, we want to see the unique ground of the local churches of God (1 Cor. 1:1-2, 9, 10-13; 3:3-4).
First Corinthians 1:2a speaks of the church of God. The church has to be of God. It should not be of anything else. This refers to the content of the church in its essence. Every substantial matter has its source. Then it has its element. Intrinsically within the element, there is the essence. The content of the church essentially is God Himself.
First Corinthians 1:2b speaks of the church at Corinth. This shows the locality of Corinth for the existence, expression, and practice of the church; such a locality becomes the local ground of the local churches on which they are built respectively (Acts 8:1; 13:1; Rev. 1:11). For its existence, expression, and practice, the church surely needs a place, and that place according to the New Testament is a locality. The church in Corinth was built in Corinth. The church in Athens is built on the ground of the city of Athens. The church in New York is built on the ground of the city of New York. Thus, the locality spontaneously becomes the church ground.
Brother Watchman Nee pointed out that God was very wise in His way of building up the church on the local ground. There are a great number of God’s chosen people. Everywhere around the globe there are believers in Christ, and they should not be scattered but gathered together to be a church. If there were not the proper limitation of the ground, there would be no limitation to the setting up of churches. Today in Southern California there is a church called the Taiwan Gospel Church. These believers have used Taiwan as their ground. I was raised in China in the city of Chefoo, and in Chefoo there was the Church of England. People set up churches too easily. Today it is easier to establish a church than it is to set up a restaurant. All the denominations have divisive grounds, including the Southern Baptists, the Presbyterians, and the Lutherans.
If we believers keep the pattern set up by God in the Bible to have one church in one city, we can keep the oneness. Any believer who comes to a city has to be in the church in that city. If I go to Tokyo, I should join the church in Tokyo. If I go to London, I should go to the church in London. If I go to Dallas, I have to meet with the church in Dallas. Then spontaneously there will be no division. The Bible set up a pattern of how the believers should meet. The first gathering of the Christians was in Jerusalem, and Acts 8:1 calls that gathering the church in Jerusalem. Jerusalem was a large city, but there was only one church in that city. Although there is one church in a city, the church does not necessarily need to meet in one place. But we must keep in mind that the city in which we are should be the unique local ground of the church.
Those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, the called saints, are the constituents as the framework of the church (1 Cor. 1:2c). The Triune God is the contents of the church, with the Spirit as the essence, the Lord as the element, and the Father as the source. The church’s framework is the genuine believers, the real saints, the sanctified ones in Christ Jesus. The church must be of God, on its local ground, and with the saints as the constituents.
First Corinthians was written to the saints in Corinth with all those who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place — the recipients of this Epistle in every place other than the saints in Corinth (v. 2d). Even today we are the recipients of this book. This Epistle was written to the church in Corinth, the composition of the saints in that city, but it has been and will be read by people in thousands of places throughout the generations.
Christ being “theirs and ours” means that Christ is the portion of the local saints in Corinth and of all the saints in whatever place, who participate in the fellowship (enjoyment) of Christ, into which all the believers have been called by the faithful God (vv. 2e, 9). The same Christ is the portion not only for one local church but also for all the churches on the earth. He is the common portion allotted to us by God. Every local church has a portion of Christ. Also, we have been called by the faithful God into the fellowship of Christ. As called saints, Christ is our portion, and we have been called into the enjoyment, the fellowship, of Christ as the center.
Divisions among the saints are condemned by the apostle as the deputy authority of Christ the Head (vv. 10-13). Paul wrote to the church in Corinth because he heard that there were divisions among them. Some said that they were of Paul, others that they were of Apollos, others that they were of Cephas, and still others that they were of Christ. They were divided into four groups, but Paul asked them, “Is Christ divided?” It was as if Paul were asking, “How many Christs do you have? Do you have a Christ for Cephas, for Apollos, for Paul, and even for Christ? Regardless of Cephas, of Apollos, of Paul, and of Christ, what you have is only one Christ. The fellowship you all are in is the fellowship of one unique Christ. Christ is not divided.” Divisions among the saints were condemned by the apostle as Christ’s deputy authority.
Christ is unique, not divisible nor divided (v. 13). What a shame it is that there are so many divisions among today’s Christians when Christ is not divided.
Paul says that division is of the flesh, according to the manner of man (3:3-4). The Taiwanese want to have a Taiwan Gospel Church because they like the flavor of Taiwan. Some Chinese brothers do not like to attend the English meetings, because they miss the Chinese flavor. Even within the United States there are the Texans and the New Yorkers and the blacks and the whites, whose cultural pride and natural preferences are divisive. We should not have our own flavor. Being divided because of any racial, national, or cultural flavor is fleshly, according to the manner of man and not according to the manner of the saints.
Concerning the spiritual and divine things for the church, we must keep in mind four crucial points. First, we must go through the cross. Our native flavor should be crossed out by Christ. Both the Americans and the Chinese should be crossed out. In the church there is room for no natural person, but Christ is all and in all (Col. 3:11). On the cross both the Jews and the Gentiles were crossed out. Second, everything should be by the Spirit. Third, this is to dispense Christ to others. Fourth, everything is for the building up of the church. In other words, whatever we do should be through the cross and by the Spirit to dispense Christ to others for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ.
But today people would not take the cross or live by the Spirit. Instead, they would live by their flesh. They would not care for dispensing Christ. Instead, they care for their kind of social life. After our meetings we like to congregate with the ones who match our natural background. The Chinese go to the Chinese, and the Americans go to the Americans. This shows that we need to be crossed out. The Japanese flavor, the Chinese flavor, the Taiwanese flavor, and the American flavor all have to be crossed out. We should not do things according to our feeling but according to the Spirit. We should not enjoy Christ merely for ourselves but to dispense Christ to others. The flavor of our natural man with our culture is the flavor of men, the flavor of the flesh. That has to be crossed out by the Spirit in order that we may dispense Christ for the church.
We need to know what our practice is under today’s divisive and confusing degradation of Christianity. We do not and should not participate in the Catholic heresy, the Protestant denominations, and any kind of free groups of Christians. To participate in any of these things is to participate in a division. But we recognize and receive the individual believers in Christ who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, who are redeemed by His blood and regenerated by the Holy Spirit, and who are not factious (Titus 3:10), not making divisions (Rom. 16:17), and not worshipping idols or living in sin (1 Cor. 5:11), even if they are still related to any of the above listed divisions. Romans 16:17 says that we are to mark those who make, or create, divisions. There are four kinds of people we cannot tolerate: people who are divisive, factious, worshipping idols, or still living in sin. We receive anyone who is not in these categories, because we are not divisive, but we cannot go to their meetings, because their meetings are divisive.
We are one with all the believers who are in the Lord’s recovery throughout the world. Also, we do not have any creed; we have only the unique Bible properly translated and interpreted by and according to the Bible itself. God’s Word is inspired. We should interpret the Bible only according to the Bible. For example, the disciples of Confucius have their concept of renewing, but this is different from the teaching of the Bible. The renewing in the Bible is that our old man should be crossed out and consumed so that the new man within us can be renewed.
All the virtues in the Christian life should be through the cross and by the Spirit to dispense Christ for the church. Many talk about love, but the Bible’s teaching concerning love is unique. Love must be through the cross and by the Spirit to dispense Christ for the church. When we love anyone, we have to check whether or not our self is crossed out and our love is by the Spirit. Also, we do not love people for our interest but for the dispensing of Christ and for the building up of the Body. This is the human virtue of love taught by the Bible, which is absolutely different from the worldly love. This is an example of interpreting the Bible according to the Bible.
Ephesians 4:3-6 shows the unique oneness of the universal Body of Christ.
The unique oneness of the universal Body of Christ is of the Spirit. Ephesians 4:3 says that we need to be diligent to keep the oneness of the Spirit. This is a strong word for us. We fleshly people must keep the oneness of the Spirit. For this we surely must be dealt with by the cross. Our flesh, our nature, our self, our “I,” should be crossed out by the cross of Christ. Then we should follow the Spirit. Then we can have the oneness of the Spirit for the dispensing of Christ and for the building up of His Body. We should not break this oneness but keep it diligently in the uniting bond of peace.
In the whole universe there is only one unique Body of Christ. There is not the Body of Christ in America and another Body of Christ in Japan. In all the places, the Body of Christ is uniquely one with the Triune God as its contents (vv. 4-6). The one Spirit is the essence of its contents. The one Lord is the element of its contents. Also, God the Father, who is over all and through all and in all triunely, is the source of its contents. The essence is of the element, and the element comes from the source. Even God the Father Himself, in a certain sense, is triune because He is above us, through us, and in us — in three directions. In the Body of Christ the Triune God is the contents — the Father is the source, the Son is the element, and the Spirit is the essence.
God has blended the Body together (1 Cor. 12:24). The word blended also means “adjusted,” “harmonized,” “tempered,” and “mingled.” God has blended the Body, adjusted the Body, harmonized the Body, tempered the Body, and mingled the Body. The Greek word for blended implies the losing of distinctions. One brother’s distinction may be quickness, and another’s may be slowness. But in the Body life the slowness disappears, and the quickness is taken away. All such distinctions are gone. God has blended all the believers of all different races and colors. Who can make the blacks and the whites lose their distinctions? Only God can do this. A husband and a wife can have the harmony in their marriage life only by losing their distinctions.
In order to be harmonized, blended, adjusted, mingled, and tempered in the Body life, we have to go through the cross and be by the Spirit, dispensing Christ to others for the sake of the Body of Christ. The co-workers and elders must learn to be crossed out. Whatever we do should be by the Spirit to dispense Christ. Also, what we do should not be for our interest and according to our taste but for the church. As long as we practice these points, we will have the blending.
All these points mean that we should fellowship. When a co-worker does anything, he should fellowship with the other co-workers. An elder should fellowship with the other elders. Fellowship tempers us, fellowship adjusts us, fellowship harmonizes us, and fellowship mingles us. We should forget about whether we are slow or quick and just fellowship with others. We should not do anything without fellowshipping with the other saints who are coordinating with us. Fellowship requires us to stop when we are about to do something. In our coordination in the church life and in the Lord’s work, we all have to learn not to do anything without fellowship.
Among us we should have the blending of all the individual members of the Body of Christ, the blending of all the churches in certain districts, the blending of all the co-workers, and the blending of all the elders. Blending means that we should always stop to fellowship with others. Then we will receive many benefits. If we isolate and seclude ourselves, we will lose much spiritual profit. Learn to fellowship. Learn to be blended. From now on, the churches should come together frequently to be blended. We may not be used to it, but after we begin to practice blending a few times, we will acquire the taste for it. This is the most helpful thing in the keeping of the oneness of the universal Body of Christ. Today it is very convenient for us to blend with one another because of this modern age with its modern conveniences.
When we blend together, we have the cross and the Spirit. Without the cross and the Spirit, all that we have is the flesh with division. In ourselves it is not easy to be crucified and to do all things by the Spirit. This is why we must learn to be blended. Blending requires us to be crossed out. Blending requires us to be by the Spirit to dispense Christ and to do everything for the sake of His Body.
We may come together without much blending because everyone stays in themselves. They are afraid to offend others and make mistakes, so they keep quiet. This is the manner of man according to the flesh. When we come together, we should experience the terminating of the cross. Then we should learn how to follow the Spirit, how to dispense Christ, and how to say and do something for the benefit of the Body. That will change the entire atmosphere of the meeting and will temper the atmosphere. Blending is not a matter of being quiet or talkative but a matter of being tempered. We can be in harmony because we have been tempered. Eventually, the distinctions will all be gone. Blending means to lose the distinctions. We all have to pay some price to practice the blending.
A group of elders may meet together often without being blended. To be blended means that you are touched by others and that you are touching others. But you should touch others in a blending way. Go through the cross, do things by the Spirit, and do everything to dispense Christ for His Body’s sake. We should not come to a blending meeting to be silent. We have to prepare ourselves to say something for the Lord. The Lord may use us, but we need to be tempered and crossed out, and we need to learn how to follow the Spirit to dispense Christ for His Body’s sake.
When I was only about twenty-seven years old, a church was raised up in my hometown. I learned to do everything through the cross and by the Spirit to minister Christ for His Body. Because I was young, I prayed the prayer of Solomon: “Lord, give me the wisdom to go out and to come in before Your people” (2 Chron. 1:10), and the Lord answered me. Through the years I have learned to be blended among the saints.
Such a blending is not social but the blending of the very Christ whom the individual members, the district churches, the co-workers, and the elders enjoy, experience, and partake of.
The blending is for the building up of the universal Body of Christ (Eph. 1:23) to consummate the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:2) as the final goal of God’s economy according to His good pleasure (Eph. 3:8-10; 1:9-10).
