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Scripture Reading: Rom. 12:4-5; 1 Cor. 12:12-27; Eph. 1:22-23; 4:4; Col. 1:18; 2:19; 3:15; 1 Tim. 3:15-16
Prayer: O Lord, we still look to You for Your leading. We really have nothing and can do nothing. Apart from You we are nothing. Lord, we truly need You. We pray that You would save us from speaking any unnecessary words and give us fresh words with fresh light, fresh vision, and fresh supply. We worship You from the depths of our being that You are and we are not; You are everything and we are nothing. Hence, we are here in the place of death looking to You that we may live in resurrection. Cleanse us with Your precious blood and resist the enemy’s attack for us. Lord, You know Your enemy; we accuse him before You. All our hardships are from him. O Lord, rebuke him on our behalf. Destroy him for us in these days of warfare. He was already destroyed on the cross; we ask You to destroy his power of darkness and all the unclean spirits and demons. Draw a line around Your recovery with Your blood so that the enemy, Satan, cannot go even one step beyond the line that You have fixed. We realize that You have given us lessons for us to learn. Nevertheless, we ask You not to allow Your enemy to exceed the limit; rather, restrict him. Under Your precious blood we tell him, “May the Lord rebuke you, and may He restrict you!” Amen.
My burden in this chapter is for us to see the Body of Christ and the church. We are too familiar with these two terms. But what is the Body of Christ? What is the church? Very few can answer accurately. Therefore, we need to ask ourselves what the Body of Christ actually is and what the church actually is.
In the Bible the Body of Christ is referred to only in the Epistles of Paul; it is not even mentioned by the Lord Jesus in the Gospels. Furthermore, only four of the fourteen Epistles written by Paul speak concerning the Body of Christ: Romans mentions it only in one place; 1 Corinthians deals with it to a great extent; Ephesians covers it to a lesser extent; and Colossians is the last book dealing with it. Hence, if we desire to know the Body of Christ, we must have a thorough study of these four Epistles.
Because so many things are covered in these four Epistles, the readers of the Bible are easily distracted by them. Suppose you go to a jewelry store to buy something. If too many items are on display, your eyes are dazzled. Hence, all the salespersons have been trained to show the customers only one item at a time instead of showing many items all at once. The biggest problem with us who read the Bible is that we are often distracted by the great number of items dealt with in the Bible. Therefore, when we study the Bible, we must learn one thing — we should grasp the main points of the Bible and not be distracted by many other items.
In Romans Paul mentions the Body of Christ only in one place, and that is in 12:4-5, which says, “Just as in one body we have many members, and all the members do not have the same function, so we who are many are one Body in Christ, and individually members one of another.” This is the only place you can find in Romans that mentions the Body of Christ. When Bible readers come to Romans, it is very difficult for them not to be distracted by the other things. You must grasp the main points of Romans, study the book slowly to familiarize yourself with it, and have a thorough knowledge of the intrinsic significance of the book. Then you will see that among all the main points and items in Romans, the most important thing is the Body of Christ. We say that God became man so that man may become God, but what is the purpose? The purpose is to produce the Body of Christ. We all know that Romans speaks first concerning man’s sinfulness, then concerning God’s justification, sanctification, etc., and, last, concerning the Body of Christ. There is a connecting line through the Bible, and that is the Body of Christ, the consummation of which is the New Jerusalem. The entire Bible of sixty-six books covers a great number of items; eventually, it refers to the New Jerusalem, which is the ultimate consummation of the Body of Christ. Hence, in view of this line, the center of Romans is the Body of Christ.
After Romans we have 1 Corinthians. The sequence of the books of the Bible is very meaningful. Romans, the first of the Epistles, begins with God’s justification and eventually refers to the Body of Christ, yet only in a brief way. Following this, 1 Corinthians speaks concerning the Body of Christ with much emphasis. The Bible covers so many items, but, in brief, the ultimate goal is to produce the Body of Christ. God is alone in eternity; His heart’s desire is to have the Body of Christ as His organism. Hence, He has an economy to satisfy His heart’s desire to produce the Body of Christ. Whereas Romans briefly mentions the Body of Christ, the next book, 1 Corinthians, deals with it extensively.
Romans refers to the Body of Christ and so does 1 Corinthians. Then what about 2 Corinthians? Second Corinthians is a book on the ministry of the new covenant. We must know, however, that the ministry of the new covenant is for the producing of the Body of Christ. First Corinthians covers the Body of Christ; 2 Corinthians, as an appendix, also speaks of the Body of Christ. What 2 Corinthians tells us is that if we desire to have the Body of Christ, we must have the new covenant ministry. Without the new covenant ministry, there is no possibility to bring forth the Body of Christ.
After 2 Corinthians we have Galatians. What is dealt with in Galatians? Galatians covers the matter of Christ replacing the law and being versus religion. This means that it deals with everything that is contrary to the Body of Christ, that is, Judaism, circumcision, and the law. Anything that does not belong to the Body of Christ is dealt with in Galatians.
The next book, Ephesians, is obviously on the Body of Christ. Almost every chapter refers to the Body of Christ. Ephesians speaks of the Body of Christ not in a general way but in a detailed and deep way. Hence, if you want to know what the Body of Christ is, you must study the book of Ephesians. Ephesians 1 is on the dispensing of the Divine Trinity, that is, the dispensing of the Father, of the Son, and of the Spirit, and then there is also the transmission of the ascended and transcendent Christ. Ephesians 1 covers a dispensing and a transmission. The dispensing is of the Triune God, and the transmission is of the transcendent Christ. These two things issue in the church (vv. 22-23). The transmission of Christ is to the church. When Paul mentions the church, immediately he says that the church is the Body of Christ.
In Ephesians the strongest emphasis on the Body of Christ is in chapter 4. Before such an emphasis on the Body of Christ is given, there is an insertion concerning the identity of the members as the constituents of the Body of Christ. They were once dead in their offenses and sins (2:1-3), but now, as members of the Body of Christ, they are no longer strangers but members of the household of God (v. 19), being built together in Christ into a dwelling place of God in spirit (v. 22). Then 4:4 speaks of one Body and one Spirit (the Spirit); it goes on to speak of one Lord and one Father, who is over all, through all, and in all (vv. 5-6). Hence, the Body of Christ involves the Spirit, the Lord, and God the Father. Moreover, God the Father has three aspects: He is over all, through all, and in all. All these added together equal the Body of Christ. If there is only one Body without the Spirit, the Lord, and God the Father, this Body is not the genuine Body of Christ. The Body of Christ can be the Body of Christ because the Spirit, the Lord, and the Father are in the Body.
In the Body of Christ the Father is the source, the Son is the element, and the Spirit is the essence. Every substance has its element, and within the element is the essence. If you know the Body of Christ to such an extent, you have entered into the depths of this matter. Nevertheless, we still have to see that all the members of the Body of Christ need to be perfected so that they may grow up to maturity. It is at this time that out from the Head the Body of Christ builds up itself (vv. 11-16). From verse 1 through 16 Paul covers the Body of Christ. After verse 16 he goes on to deal with other matters. In summary, the Body of Christ is dealt with in Ephesians 1 and 4, and the house of God is referred to in Ephesians 2. These are the two aspects of the church: on the one hand, the church is the house, the household, of God; on the other hand, the church is the Body of Christ.
Colossians is on the all-inclusive Christ having the first place in all things. In such a book Paul also refers to the Body of Christ. In chapter 1 he shows us that Christ is the Firstborn of all creation, in whom all things were created; that He is the Head of the Body, the church; and that He is the Firstborn from the dead so that He might have the first place in all things (vv. 16-18).
Then in chapter 2 Paul goes on further to show us that the Body of Christ needs to grow, and this growing is from the Head, Christ, because all the supply comes out from Him (v. 19). Growing is a matter of life, which is God Himself. Hence, the growth of the Body of Christ has nothing to do with the doctrinal knowledge of the Bible, the way of worship, or any such matters; rather, it depends on the growth of God, the increase of God’s element, in the Body.
Now we come to see the church. We have seen that the church has two aspects: one aspect is the Body of Christ, and the other aspect is the house of God. Both aspects are organic. This means that the essence of the church is life and spirit. We know that our body is organic. However, in general, when people mention a house, they do not relate it to life. Nevertheless, a house, a family, is also a matter of life. Without life, how can there be a house, a family? A proper family begins with life. When a man and a woman are joined together in marriage, children are brought forth through the process of life. Both the parents and the children are organic, that is, of life. Without life, where will the members of the household come from? Hence, the intrinsic essence of the house is life.
You may think that the physical family does not have spirit. This consideration is wrong. The finest point of the human life is the human spirit. Without a spirit, men are just like beasts. Likewise, without the spirit, the house of God is not the house of God. Hence, the church has life and spirit as well. Therefore, in Ephesians Paul stresses two points concerning the church: life and spirit. In chapter 2 he refers to God’s family, God’s household, which is a matter of life, and at the end he says that through His Spirit God dwells in our spirit as His dwelling place, and His dwelling place is the church.
We cannot touch the matter of the church apart from life or spirit. In the preceding chapter we mentioned the genuine revival. This means that there are some saints in the recovery who definitely know the Spirit of God and their spirit, who absolutely live in the spirit, and who allow God to have a dwelling place, to make home, in them. This will usher in a genuine revival. One party is the Dweller, and the other party is the dwelling place; the Dweller and the dwelling place are mingled as one.
Everything that we do in the church must be of the Spirit and must be the expression of the Spirit. Our meetings should not be forms and rituals; they should not be full of persons, events, and things without the Spirit. Likewise, we should not pray in a conventional way. If we pray with a loud voice when our spirit is high, pray with a low voice when our spirit is low, and stay silent when our spirit is quenched, this is ritualism. We should not exercise our spirit only when we are in the meetings. Rather, we should exercise our spirit in our daily life, walk, and speaking. We should live, walk, and speak according to our spirit within. In our daily life we should have a strong spirit; we should not wait until we come to the meetings to exercise our spirit.
If we practice exercising our spirit in our daily life, spontaneously we will exercise our spirit as soon as we get into the meetings; we will not have a set form, nor will we need to be directed by someone to do certain things. When we come to the meetings, there should not be any set of rules or any definite arrangement. Before coming to the meeting hall, even while at home you may begin the meeting by exercising your spirit to pray, “Lord, I praise You; remember and bless the meeting today.” After you get into your car, you and your wife with your children — the four of you — are already having a meeting. Once you enter through the gate of the meeting hall, you say, “Praise the Lord, Hallelujah, I can come in through the gate of Zion.” When you go up the stairs, you can sing one of the Songs of Ascents, praying and praising step by step. This way of coming to the meetings is the overflow of the exercise of our spirit in our practical living.
Any ritualistic practice is not the church. The church depends on life and spirit. The church meetings should be living and freed from rituals and forms. However, to this day we do not have this practice because we are not living and do not exercise our spirit. This is similar to what the Lord said to the church in Sardis: “You have a name that you are living, and yet you are dead” (Rev. 3:1). In the Lord’s eyes Christians today are living in name but dead in reality. All genuine Christians should be living and full of the Spirit. If you are living and full of the Spirit, you will preach the gospel to those whom you meet. But how many today have such a living practice? I hope that henceforth you will overturn all the dead rituals. We say that we need to have the God-man living. How can God-men not have the life of God? And how can God-men not have the Spirit of God? We are God-men, not dead men. God-men should be living and full of the Spirit.
In the Bible the most thorough and the highest speaking concerning the house of God is in 1 Timothy 3:15-16, which says, “If I delay, I write that you may know how one ought to conduct himself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and base of the truth. And confessedly, great is the mystery of godliness: He who was manifested in the flesh, / Justified in the Spirit, / Seen by angels, / Preached among the nations, / Believed on in the world, / Taken up in glory.” All orthodox students of the Bible acknowledge that the emphasis of verse 16 is not on Christ but on the church. The church is the great mystery of godliness, the manifestation of God in the flesh, and the pillar and base of the truth. The pillar supports the building, and the base holds the pillar. The church as such a pillar and base bears and holds the truth of God. The truth here refers to the real things revealed in the New Testament concerning Christ and the church according to God’s New Testament economy. The church is the supporting pillar and holding base of all the realities.
Since the church is the house of the living God, it is a matter of life and spirit. Both the Body of Christ and the house of God are organic; both are hinged on the life of God and the Spirit of God. Without the life of God or the Spirit of God, both the house of God and the Body of Christ are gone. All that is left is a human organization, a mere assembling of the called-out congregation. If there is no life or spirit, there is no reality of the Body of Christ. Moreover, if there is no life or spirit, there is no reality of the house of God.
In the previous chapter I said that the proper living of a Christ-pursuing God-man is to live out the reality of the Body of Christ. In this chapter I would like to add something more: a God-man should also live out the reality of the house of God. Actually, the reality of the house of God is the reality of the Body of Christ. The house of God is local; the Body of Christ is universal. Both are the same in their intrinsic essence; both depend on life and spirit.
To the church in Sardis the Lord said, “You have a name that you are living, and yet you are dead” (Rev. 3:1). To the church in Laodicea He said, “Because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I am about to spew you out of My mouth” (v. 16). The degraded church has a name that she is living, and yet she is dead; she is also lukewarm toward the Lord. To such a degraded church Christ is standing outside her door instead of inside (v. 20). This is the general situation of Christianity today. Christ is outside the door of the so-called church instead of being inside. That it is merely an organization is apparent; it is not the house of God or the Body of Christ. Hence, in reality it cannot be counted as the house of God or the Body of Christ; it has neither the reality of the house of God nor the reality of the Body of Christ. Such a danger exists also among us. When we meet, Christ may be outside instead of being inside.
Today if we want to bring in an unprecedented revival, we must deal with the matter of life and spirit. I hope to see that some of you will really exercise your spirit to be filled with the Spirit regularly. If so, once you step into the meeting hall, you will be singing and praising; you will sing going up the stairs and walking through the aisles, and even when you sit down, you will still be singing and praising without ceasing. If we have this kind of meeting among us, this is indeed the manifestation of the Body of Christ, and this is where the house of God is. When people come into our midst, according to what 1 Corinthians 14:25 says, they will worship God, declaring that indeed God is among us.
