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Scripture Reading: 1 Cor. 1:10-13; 3:3-4; 4:6; 11:17, 19, 29-30; 12:24-25; Eph. 4:2; Rom. 16:17; Titus 3:10; Lev. 13:45-46; Num. 12:10-15.
I. Divisions being among the Corinthians — 1 Cor. 1:10:
А. All not speaking the same thing.
B. Not being attuned in the same mind and in the same opinion.
C. Having, rather, jealousy and strife — v. 11; 3:3.
D. Making parties by saying, I am of Paul, I am of Apollos, I am of Cephas, and I am of Christ — 1:12.
II. Such divisions being condemned by the apostle’s teaching:
А. Being fleshly and walking according to man — 3:3-4.
B. Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized into the name of Paul? — 1:13.
C. Being puffed up on behalf of one, against the other — 4:6.
III. Such divisive ones coming together to take the Lord’s table not for the better (not for profit) but for the worse (for loss) — 11:17:
А. Not discerning the bread as a symbol of the Lord’s physical body that needs to be regarded by them.
B. Not discerning the bread as a symbol of the Lord’s mystical Body that requires them to keep the oneness of the Body of Christ.
C. Eating judgment to themselves — v. 29.
D. Because of this, many among them being weak and sick, and a number sleeping — v. 30.
IV. Parties of division manifesting those in the church life who are approved — v. 19.
V. Having the same care for all the members to avoid division in the Body — 12:25.
VI. No base, no reason, no excuse, no justification, and no vindication for any kind of division.
VII. Always remember: there is no way for the members of the Body of Christ to be legitimately divided in the Body of Christ.
VIII. All problems can and should be solved through proper and adequate fellowship by praying together sincerely and thoroughly:
А. By seeking the Lord’s solution with an open spirit, a pure heart, a lowly mind, and a meek attitude — Eph. 4:2.
B. According to the teaching of the Scriptures properly interpreted, not understood by taking them out of context.
C. Without self-interest; the entire pursuit being for the Lord’s glory and for the benefit of the Lord’s recovery.
D. No parties or divisions formed for backing in partiality, threatening, and/or challenging others.
IX. Dealing with divisive members:
А. Turning away from division-makers — Rom. 16:17.
B. Rejecting factious, sectarian, members — Titus 3:10.
C. Practicing the quarantining of the lepers in typology — Lev. 13:45-46; Num. 12:10-15.
Prayer: Lord, how we thank You. We thank You that You have brought us to this last meeting. We praise You that You are the Alpha and the Omega. We believe that You have blessed the beginning and that today You will bless the ending. We trust in You for this last meeting. This is the last day as the great day. In this great day, Lord, come to bless us greatly. Lord Jesus, we need You every moment. We can never forget You. You are in our mind, in our spirit, in our heart, and in our whole being. Thank You, Lord Jesus. You have the word, and You are the Spirit. Both Your word and Your Spirit will always be with us. Amen.
In this chapter we want to continue our fellowship concerning the oneness of the Body. Then we want to see how division can damage this oneness.
In Ephesians 4 two aspects of the oneness of the Body are unveiled — the oneness in reality and the oneness in practicality. The oneness of the Body is not merely a doctrine but a reality. This oneness is more than a oneness among all the believers and among the local churches. It is the oneness of the Triune God, existing among the three of the Godhead. There is one God, yet His Godhead is three. Thus, He is the three-one God, the Triune God. Among the three of the Godhead there is an eternal oneness. God the Father is one with the Son and with the Spirit, the Son is one with the Father and with the Spirit, and the Spirit is one with the Son and with the Father. All the three are one with one another.
Furthermore, this wonderful, divine oneness among the three of the Godhead has been increased. The Lord Jesus told us that as the one grain of wheat, He fell into the ground to die so that He could bear much fruit (John 12:24). Thus, the one grain has become many grains. The many grains are an increase to the one grain.
In eternity past the Triune God did not have children. This means that He did not have an increase. One day He created man, and the man He created was multiplying and increasing all the time to replenish the whole earth (Gen. 1:28). However, the Triune God Himself was still childless. Four thousand years after His creation of man, He was incarnated, putting on the human nature to be a man. Even at that time, however, He was still childless.
When did the Triune God beget His many children? This took place in the resurrection of Christ. This resurrection was a great birth, a great delivery. In that great delivery in resurrection, Jesus, who was already the only begotten Son of God from eternity (John 1:18; 3:16), was begotten to be the firstborn Son of God among many brothers (Acts 13:33; Rom. 8:29). Now the Triune God has millions and millions of children. In resurrection Jesus is the firstborn Son of God, and we are His many brothers. The firstborn Son and His many brothers were all delivered on the same day, at the same time. First Peter 1:3 says that when Christ was resurrected, we all were regenerated. In His resurrection He imparted the divine life into us to make us His brothers and the many sons of the Triune God.
This great delivery, this great birth, of God’s firstborn Son and His many brothers took place on the day of resurrection. But in another sense, in the process of time, this delivery has not been fully consummated. It is still going on in time. Whenever the local churches gain some increase, that is the continuation of that unique delivery. It will go on and on until the record in the heavens is fulfilled. This great, universal delivery will be fully consummated, completed, when the Lord comes back. The many sons of the Triune God are His increase. Thus, the oneness of the Triune God has also been increased to include His sons, the members of His Body.
At one time this oneness was only among the three divine persons of the Godhead, but now it has gotten into millions of believers. These millions of believers, the many sons of God, are the corporate Body of Christ. Millions and millions of believers are incorporated in this corporate Body. Now we can see how great this oneness is.
In the local churches we have believers from every continent and of all races, of all colors. Instead of quarreling, we are singing together and praising together. How wonderful this oneness is among us! But the oneness we enjoy is just a miniature of the great universal oneness of the entire universal Body of Christ. This oneness was merely among the three of the Godhead in eternity past. Now it has been expanded, enlarged, and increased to include the millions and millions of sons of God who are the members of the great universal Body of Christ. We are now testifying of this oneness.
We believers are one with the Triune God. Man can be one with God because he was created according to God’s “kind.” Genesis 1 tells us that in God’s creation everything was created according to its kind. Man is according to God’s kind because he was created in God’s image and according to God’s likeness (v. 26). We are not God, but we bear God’s image and even have God’s likeness. We are the photos of God. We say that we are mankind, but we need to realize that mankind is according to God’s kind.
Those created men who were chosen by God were born of Him to become His children. We have been born of God, and God is now our Father. The children of a father are the same as their father in life, but they are not the same as he is in his fatherhood. Only he is the father. They are the children. In the same way, as the children of God, we are the same as God because we have His life and nature. However, we are not the same as God in His Godhead or in His fatherhood. As the children of God, we are one with our Father God.
Ephesians 4:3-6 reveals the oneness in reality. The oneness in reality is the oneness of the one Spirit as the essence with the oneness of the one Body — the one place to stay. We all stay in this one Body. Moreover, God the Father stays here, God the Son stays here, and God the Spirit stays here. Spiritually speaking, we all are staying in the oneness of the one Body with the Triune God. Thus, the Triune God is staying with us. The Spirit is the essence of the oneness, this Spirit is staying in the one Body, and the one Body is our lodging place.
This oneness is also the oneness of the one hope of the believers’ calling — the one destination to pursue (vv. 3-4). Where are we going? What is our destination? The coming Christ is our destination. Our destination is a wonderful person. He is here, yet He is coming. He is here as our hope, and He is coming as the goal of our hope. We are all on the same way to arrive at the same destination. We may have the intention of coming back to Reston, Virginia, for another conference next year. We may feel that this will be our destination. But suppose the Lord Jesus returns two months before that time. Will we say, “Lord Jesus, wait awhile; we haven’t arrived at our destination yet”? I am illustrating in this way to show us that our destination every day, every morning, and every moment is the coming Jesus. Today He is our hope, and we are pursuing Him as our one destination. He is our goal, He is our hope, and eventually we will arrive at Him as our destination. Millions and millions of Christians all have one destination. We will all be together to meet our returning Lord.
The Spirit is the essence of the oneness, and the Lord is the element of the oneness. The essence is in the element. The oneness in reality is the oneness of the one Lord as the element with the oneness of the one faith — the one transfer into Christ. Faith transfers us into Christ. We used to be in Adam, but faith transferred us into Christ.
The oneness of the one Lord as the element is also with the oneness of the one baptism — the one transfer out of Adam (Eph. 4:5). Baptism is a transfer on the negative side. It transfers us out of Adam. It is terrible to be in Adam, but how can we get out of Adam? Faith joins us to Christ, and baptism separates us from Adam. This is why we have to believe and be baptized (Mark 16:16). We have to get out of Adam and get into Christ. Baptism gets us out of Adam, and faith gets us into Christ. The one Lord with one faith and one baptism is a base of our oneness.
The oneness in reality is also the oneness of the one Father as the source, who is over all, through all, and in all (Eph. 4:6). Paul described the oneness in such a fine way. He showed us that God the Father is the source of our oneness, the Lord is the element of our oneness, and the Spirit is the essence of our oneness. The Father as the source, the origin, is now over us, through us, and in us. He is the saturating One and the permeating One. Actually, the Father Himself is triune. He is the triune Father because He is in three directions — over all, through all, and in all. Over all refers mainly to the Father, through all to the Son, and in all to the Spirit. The Father, the Son, and the Spirit are the source, the element, and the essence of the oneness in reality.
We need to be in a trance to see this. We do not want to remain in the natural field. We want to be in a trance, in an invisible sphere, to see the invisible reality of the oneness of the Body of Christ. When we are in such a trance, we can see Christ in one another. Why are we one? Why do we sing the same and pray the same? Although we are of different races and from different places, we are one because the same One is over us all, through us all, and in us all. We are in something that is invisible — the oneness in reality.
When we were born again, we were immediately delivered into this oneness. When a child is born, he is delivered into a family and becomes a member of that family. In the same way, when we were born again, we became members of God’s family. Recently, a Russian couple came to a church meeting in Anaheim and asked how they could become members of our church. I dared not to disturb the meeting, but within me I said, “You have already received your membership.” After being delivered, a newborn son has already received his sonship, his membership into his family. Since we have been born of God, we all are members of the great oneness of God’s family. This is the reality, and we are in this reality.
After we have been regenerated, however, we Christians have a long way to walk, a long way to go. I have been on this way for over sixty-six years. The longer the way is, the more trouble there is. Today we may all be happy. We may declare, “Hallelujah! We are one!” Later, however, a “barking dog” may trouble us. In Philippians 3:2 Paul told the Philippians to “beware of the dogs.” These dogs were the religious Judaizers.
Today you may be so happy in the enjoyment of the divine oneness, but later someone may come to poison you with doubts, rumors, and other negative things. They may even give you some negative literature to read. Then you will wonder, “Is the local church like this?” You may then begin to think that you came to the wrong place and that you were born into the wrong family. By receiving these negative things, your enjoyment of the oneness has been cut off. This one who came to you from outside the recovery may be considered as an “outdoor barking dog.”
There are also those from within who may be considered as “indoor barking dogs.” One of them may ask you where you meet. Then he may ask you if you know a certain brother there. When you say that you do, he will begin to tell you many things about this brother. Then when you go to your next meeting and see this brother, the sight of his face will quench you. Your feeling and attitude toward him will have been affected, and your oneness with him will have been damaged.
There is much barking today to distract us from the oneness of the Body of Christ. Much of this barking comes from the religious world. We pointed out previously that the saints who have gone to Russia for the Lord’s move have seen that the Russian Orthodox tradition still remains there. Some refused to be baptized after they received the Lord because they had been baptized when they were infants. Although religion was cut off in Russia by Lenin more than seventy years ago, the “barking” of traditional religion still remains. This barking can distract the proper, normal Christians from the way of the oneness of the Body. On our Christian way, there is much barking to distract us.
Sometimes the wives can speak things to distract their husbands. A wife may say, “In the past we used to attend every meeting. But now I don’t like to go to the church meetings too often.” The husband then may ask, “Dear, what is the reason?” She may then say that two of the elders are not very nice and that she does not like to see them. Such speaking will spontaneously, secretly, and hiddenly distract her husband. By receiving this speaking, her husband will be cooled down in his feeling toward the church.
How can we overcome all this barking? The invisible vision keeps us. Paul told King Agrippa, “I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision” (Acts 26:19). Paul did not disobey the heavenly vision that he had received. Vision keeps us. Vision strengthens us. The barking cannot affect us, because we have seen something so real. I hope that all of us will see a vision of the real oneness in this universe. If we see such a vision, we will not be distracted by anything. We will not be distracted by the division and confusion in Christianity. We will care only for what we have seen in the trance. Through these messages the Lord has brought us into a trance. In this trance we have seen the oneness in reality. We see that we have to remain in this oneness because we were born into it.
The other aspect of the oneness is the oneness in practicality. All the believers in Christ were born into the oneness of reality, but we all need to go on until we arrive at the oneness in practicality.
The oneness in practicality is first the oneness of the faith. The faith is the object of the believers’ believing. To insist on anything besides the faith as a basis for receiving the believers is to be divisive. Today’s denominations have been founded on something other than the unique faith, which consists of the truth concerning the divine person of Christ and His redemptive work accomplished for our salvation. The Presbyterian denomination is founded on the practice of the presbytery, the eldership. The Southern Baptist denomination is founded upon the practice of baptism by immersion. A person has to be baptized by the Southern Baptists in order to be received into their fellowship. Because they receive the saints on a condition other than that of the faith, they have become a division.
Our faith is focused on a wonderful person — Jesus Christ. He is God becoming a man to be our Savior. He died physically on the cross and shed His physical blood for our sins. He was buried for three days, and He resurrected physically, psychologically, and spiritually to be the Spirit indwelling us. We believe in Him as such a person, and we believe in His redemptive work in dying for us and being resurrected.
The modernists do not believe this. They say that Christ died on the cross as a martyr and that His death has nothing to do with our sins. They also do not believe that Christ resurrected. They are not genuine believers, because they do not believe in the person of Christ or in the work of Christ as the One who died for us to accomplish redemption. We, however, are genuine believers, genuine Christians, and this is our faith.
We should not contend for anything other than this unique faith. This faith is common to all believers (Titus 1:4). We should not be distracted from this unique faith to anything else. The doctrine of the presbytery with the Presbyterians, the practice of baptism with the Southern Baptists, the methods of the Methodists, and the teachings and practices of Catholicism are examples of distractions from the unique faith issuing in divisions. Once we are distracted, we lose the peace of the oneness in reality. However, if we are diligent to keep the oneness of the Spirit, avoiding every distraction, we will be on our way to arriving at the oneness of the faith, the oneness in practicality. The more we grow in life, the more we will cleave to the faith, and the more we will drop the minor and meaner doctrinal concepts that cause division.
We need to reject every voice that distracts us from the oneness of the Body. Sometimes these voices are big, and other times they are small. A sister may tell someone, “I trusted in the church for twenty-five years, but I recently found out that some of the elders are not trustworthy. They lie.” This short speaking is enough to distract and to poison others. The distracting voices can cause us to depart from the oneness in reality. Then we surely do not have the oneness in practicality. We need to reject any kind of distracting voice. We should not want to hear any distracting thing. Then we will have the peace and the joy. We will enjoy the oneness in reality so that we can arrive at the oneness in practicality.
There are many divisions surrounding us. Many gospel contacts wonder why there are so many different kinds of so-called churches since we all believe in one Jesus. In the midst of so much division and confusion, we must learn how to see the invisible things from the Word. The Word will show us the right way, the Word will assure us of the right thing, and the Word will keep us in the oneness in reality. Then we will have the proper practice of the oneness. I believe that what is practiced in the Lord’s recovery is the proper oneness. We are both in the oneness in reality and in the oneness in practicality.
The oneness in practicality is not only the oneness of the faith but also the oneness of the full knowledge of the Son of God — the full apprehension of the unlimited Christ (Eph. 4:13). There are arguments today not only about Christ’s death but also about Christ’s person. The Scriptures say that Jesus Christ, as the last Adam, died on the cross for our sins and was resurrected. First Corinthians 15:45b says that in His resurrection Jesus as the last Adam became a life-giving Spirit. This is clearly revealed in the Bible, but some rose up against us to claim that it is heresy to say that Christ is the Spirit.
A number of Christians today believe that the three of the Triune God are three Gods. They believe the wrong teaching of tritheism. Tritheism, the teaching that there are three Gods, is heresy. The three of the Godhead are distinct, but They are not separate. The three of the Godhead mutually indwell and live in one another. This is called coinherence. In John 14 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and it is sufficient for us” (v. 8). The Lord responded, “Have I been so long a time with you, and you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father...Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me” (vv. 9-11). This portion of the Word shows that the Son and the Father are inseparably one. The Son is in the Father, and the Father is in the Son. Also, the Son is the Father (Isa. 9:6).
Christ is all-inclusive. He is the Son, He is the Spirit, and He is the Father. He is also a man. Because some are short of the full knowledge of Christ, there are arguments. This is why Paul says that we need the oneness of the unique faith, and we need the oneness of the full, complete knowledge of Christ. We should not be narrow-minded or shortsighted about Christ, because He is all-inclusive.
People have also condemned us because we have said that our experience of Christ may differ. But this is according to the typology in the Old Testament. One person might bring a bullock to offer, whereas another person who was poor could only bring a small bird (Lev. 1:3, 14). Both these offerings are types of Christ, but one portion is bigger than the other. This means that one person’s experience of Christ can be bigger than another person’s experience. The full knowledge of the Son of God is the apprehension of the revelation concerning the Son of God for our experience. We all need to experience the all-inclusive Christ.
The four Gospels show that the one Christ has four aspects. John shows that Christ is God. In the beginning was the Word, the Word was God, and this Word became flesh (1:1, 14). Luke shows that Christ is a man, Matthew reveals that He is a King, and Mark shows that He is a Slave. Christ is all-inclusive, so we have to know Him in full. We should not be narrow-minded or shortsighted about Christ.
When we are one in knowing Christ, we will have the practical oneness. If we are perfected and completed in knowing Christ, we will not suffer the loss of the oneness of reality in our practice. If we do not practice the oneness properly, we will leave the oneness in reality. Many Christians today in the denominations have left the oneness in reality. By the Lord’s mercy our eyes have been opened to see the divine oneness of the Body of Christ. We know this oneness, and we are also practicing this oneness, the oneness in reality and the oneness in practicality.
We were born into the oneness in reality. Then we need to arrive at the oneness in practicality. There is a process from the oneness in reality to arrive at the oneness in practicality (Eph. 4:12-16). To fully arrive at the oneness in practicality, we need to be perfected by the gifts unto the work of the New Testament ministry for the building up of the Body of Christ (v. 12). Then we will grow from babyhood to a full-grown man, no longer being tossed by the waves, the turmoils, and no longer being carried about by every wind of teaching, doctrine (v. 14). To arrive at the oneness in practicality, we need to hold to truth in love to grow up in all things into the Head, Christ (v. 15). Eventually, we will be a full-grown man with the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, the Body of Christ (v. 13). We will be built into the Body of Christ by being joined together through every joint of the rich supply of Christ and by being knit together through the operation in the measure of each one part of the Body (v. 16). This is the best and most effective way to keep the oneness of the Body (vv. 2-3).
The apostle Paul spoke of the Body of Christ and warned the believers about division damaging the oneness of the Body. In Romans Paul mentions the Body in chapter 12, saying that “we who are many are one Body in Christ” (v. 5). The following book is 1 Corinthians. First Corinthians is a rich book on the enjoyment of Christ. In 1 Corinthians Christ is revealed as twenty items for our enjoyment (see footnote 92 in 1 Corinthians 1, Recovery Version). Eventually, 1 Corinthians reveals that such a One became the life-giving Spirit. This is the twentieth item. All the foregoing nineteen items are included in this last item. If He were not the life-giving Spirit, He could never be our wisdom: our righteousness, our sanctification, and our redemption (v. 30). If He were not the life-giving Spirit, He could not have come into us, and He would have nothing to do with us in our experience. But thank Him that He is the life-giving Spirit. Furthermore, 1 Corinthians 6:17 says, “He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.” We are one spirit with Him because He is the Spirit mingled with our spirit. We have an organic union with Him in our spirit.
First Corinthians is such a marvelous book on the enjoyment of Christ, but this book also covers the negative side. It teaches us how to face division, how to deal with division, and how to avoid division. Ephesians teaches us mainly about the oneness on the positive side, whereas 1 Corinthians teaches us mainly about the oneness on the negative side.
First Corinthians 1:10 says that there were divisions among the Corinthians. They did not all speak the same thing. If we all speak different things, we will be divided. Furthermore, the Corinthians were not attuned in the same mind and in the same opinion. To be attuned may be likened to the tuning of a piano. The piano will not give a harmonious sound if it is not tuned. We may be likened to a piano with the mind as one key, the emotion as another key, the will as another key, and the conscience as still another key. We may not be attuned in the same mind and in the same opinion, so when Jesus comes to “play on us,” we do not sound so well. Our sound is not harmonious, so we need the heavenly One to attune us.
When a brother exchanges words with his wife, or when a wife argues with her husband, that is not harmonious. This is why we need to be attuned. The Lord needs to come to touch us. He wants to touch our mind and our emotion. Our emotion should be attuned because we are wild in our emotion. We are also stubborn in our will. Once we have decided something, no one can change us. This is why the Lord needs to attune our will, to make our will soft and flexible. I believe that many of us have experienced these things. I have been attuned often. All of us need to be attuned in the same mind and in the same opinion. Then we will become like a grand piano that plays fine music in harmony.
In Corinth it was not like this, because there were jealousy and strife among the saints there (v. 11; 3:3). Some young sisters in the church life may become jealous of one another. When they pray, when they share, or when they prophesy in the meetings, they are competing for Amens. When one sister shares, she receives many Amens, but when another one shares, she does not receive many Amens. Then the sister who did not get many Amens becomes offended. This is jealousy. Some will not function unless they have the assurance that they will hear many Amens from the saints. If they do not have this assurance, they will keep silent. This shows that it is easy to have jealousy and strife in the church.
The Corinthians also made parties by saying, “I am of Paul, and I of Apollos, and I of Cephas, and I of Christ” (1:12). Parties are divisions. In our local church there may be four or five speakers who minister the word. When we come to a ministry meeting, we may ask who is going to speak. If one brother is speaking, we will not go, but if another brother is speaking, we will go. To our feeling this brother is wonderful. We are “of him.” This is a party. We may think that we are merely choosing to go hear a brother who is a good speaker, and not choosing to go hear another brother who is a bad speaker. But to do this is to make parties. We all have to learn to avoid anything that can create division. These kinds of divisions were there in Corinth.
Such divisions were condemned by the apostle’s teaching. Paul says that those who make divisions are fleshly and walk according to the manner of man (3:3-4). In 1 Corinthians 1:13 Paul says, “Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized into the name of Paul?” The answer to all these questions is no. Christ, of course, is not divided. This unique and undivided Christ, taken as the unique center among all the believers, should be the termination of all divisions.
The Corinthians were also puffed up on behalf of one, against the other (4:6). Paul and Apollos were simply ministers of Christ who should not have been appraised beyond what they were. Otherwise, their appraisers, like the fleshly Corinthians, might be puffed up on behalf of one, against the other. When we say that one brother is better than another brother, this can create division.
When divisive ones come together to take the Lord’s table, it is not for the better, not for profit, but for the worse, for loss (11:17). How we come to the Lord’s table is very important. We must have the assurance that we do not have any divisive thoughts or considerations about the saints. To come to the Lord’s table in a divisive way will cause us to suffer loss.
Those who partake of the table in an unworthy manner fail to discern the bread as a symbol of the Lord’s physical body that needs to be regarded by them. The bread on the table should also be discerned as a symbol of the Lord’s mystical Body that requires us to keep the oneness of the Body of Christ. The denominations have their communion, their table, with the bread. But their bread does not signify the whole Body. It only signifies a part. That bread signifies division, so we cannot partake of it.
When we participate in the Lord’s table, we must discern whether the bread on the table signifies the one Body of Christ or any division of man (any denomination). In discerning the Body of Christ, we should not partake of the bread in any division or with any divisive spirit. Otherwise, we will eat judgment to ourselves (v. 29). Paul says that because of this, many among the Corinthians were weak and sick physically, and even a number were sleeping (v. 30). Here sleeping means that they had died (1 Thes. 4:13-16). First, they were disciplined to be weak physically. Then since they would not repent of their offense, they were further disciplined and became sick. Because they still would not repent, the Lord judged them by death. This shows that we have to be careful in coming to the Lord’s table. When we come to the Lord’s table, we have to discern the bread. It first signifies the physical body of Christ, which He gave for us on the cross. We should not consider this bread in a common way. We should also consider that this bread signifies Christ’s mystical Body, which comprises all the believers in the whole universe. We do not take a divisive bread, but we take a bread of oneness. If we take a divisive bread, we eat to our own judgment, to our own condemnation.
Parties of division manifest those in the church life who are approved (1 Cor. 11:19). Parties in the church are useful for manifesting the approved ones, who are not divisive. We need to be ones who are approved by God. If we are approved by God, we will not be divisive.
We should have the same care for all the members to avoid division in the Body (12:25). Philippians 2:2 says that we should have the same love toward all the saints. We may be loving one another with different levels of love. We may love one brother on the highest level and another one on the lowest level. In other words, we love certain brothers more than other brothers. This causes division.
In the church life we may love the excellent, marvelous members and look down on other members. However, the same care should be given to all the different members. A difference in care causes division. First Corinthians 12 says that those members of the Body which we consider to be less honorable, these we should clothe with more abundant honor. If a member is not so comely, we should bestow more honor to him to make him more comely (vv. 23-24). This is to balance the love and to balance the honor in the Body in order to avoid division. We should love everyone on the same level, trying to avoid division in every way.
There is no base, no reason, no excuse, no justification, and no vindication for any kind of division. Regardless of what the reason is for division, that is not a reason in the eyes of God. If we think that there is something wrong with the elders or the other saints, we should not gossip about them. We should always go to the Lord. If we go to the Lord, the Lord will impress us to pray for them. If there is something wrong, we should tell the Lord Jesus. He is the only One who can heal the situation. We also should check with ourselves whether or not we are better than they are. Are we better than the elders whom we are criticizing? If we get into the Lord’s presence, we will realize that we are worse. The Lord will help us to realize that we need to be adjusted in many ways. This is the way to keep the oneness.
We must always remember that there is no way for the members of the Body of Christ to be legitimately divided in the Body of Christ. In other words, no division is legitimate, and no division is justified, regardless of how strong our reason is.
All problems can and should be solved through proper and adequate fellowship by praying together sincerely and thoroughly. Any question and any problem can be solved by fellowship. Acts 15 speaks of how the trouble concerning circumcision came from Jerusalem to Antioch. That stirred up a big turmoil in the church at Antioch. Paul and Barnabas, however, did not say, “This is something from Jerusalem. Let Jerusalem take care of this. We will tell these people to go back to Jerusalem. Antioch is our territory. It is in our jurisdiction.” That is not the right way. Instead, Paul and Barnabas went from Antioch to Jerusalem to fellowship with the apostles and elders there (vv. 1-2). They all came together to have a thorough fellowship. By this kind of adequate and thorough fellowship, they arrived at a conclusion by the leading and guidance of the Spirit. Thus, they solved the problem.
Today we should be the same, but those who have been dissenting among us did not take this way. In recent years there have been some turmoils among us. When the dissenting ones came to me, a proposal was made to invite all the co-workers and the elders throughout the globe to come together. We would all come together to pray thoroughly, and then we would open up the holy Word to study and fellowship about all the concerns. They told me they would agree on a date that would be acceptable for everyone to come together, and then they would let me know. Eventually, however, this never took place. That means they rejected the proper way to have fellowship. Thus far, none of the dissenting ones have come to me with a spirit of fellowship to fellowship about their problems. We all have to learn that if we see something that we cannot tolerate, the best way is to have fellowship with the concerned ones and with some experienced ones. By praying together to search the Word, we can solve every problem.
If we all hold to the unique faith, there should be no problem among us that cannot be solved. We all believe that God is triune and that the Bible is God’s Word. We also believe that Christ is God becoming a man to be our Savior. He died on the cross for our sins, and He resurrected physically, psychologically, and spiritually. Today He is our Savior and our life, and we are the children of the Triune God. As long as we believe in the contents of the faith, we should not contend for anything else. We do not need to argue with one another. Instead, we need to fellowship by praying together.
None of us should make an issue over the practice of the new way versus the old way, because these ways are not our faith. Surely there is nothing wrong with preaching the gospel by visiting and contacting people. We do not necessarily need to go out to knock on people’s doors to preach the gospel. Calling people on the phone, writing letters, sending booklets, and any other kind of contact with people is a kind of “knocking on doors.” In order to keep the oneness we need to remain in our spirit so that we can be kept in fellowship with the Lord. Then if there are problems, we can fellowship with those who are concerned. Based upon our fellowship with the Lord, with much prayer, we can get everything solved.
We should fellowship by seeking the Lord’s solution with an open spirit, a pure heart, a lowly mind, and a meek attitude (Eph. 4:2). We should not be proud. Also, we should fellowship according to the teaching of the Scriptures properly interpreted, not understood by taking them out of context. Some may justify what they are doing by claiming that it is according to the Scriptures. However, it is according to the Scriptures by their wrong interpretation, by their twisting, and by their taking certain verses out of context.
Our fellowship to solve any problem should be without self-interest. The entire pursuit should be for the Lord’s glory and for the benefit of the Lord’s recovery. To solve any problem in fellowship, no parties or divisions should be formed for backing in partiality, threatening, and/or challenging others. If we would practice all these items, we surely can have every problem solved in fellowship. This is the best remedy to heal any disease of division.
There may be some divisive members among us. Paul refers to these ones in Romans 16:17, which says, “Now I exhort you, brothers, to mark those who make divisions and causes of stumbling contrary to the teaching which you have learned, and turn away from them.” Some make division purposely. We have to turn away from these division-makers. Titus 3:10 says that we must reject the factious, sectarian, members. Some members are very factious, very sectarian, very divisive, and their purpose in contacting others is to cause division. There are some like this today who have the intention of remaining among us to spread their poison. No doubt, they are division-makers, and they are factious, sectarian. Since they are division-makers, we have to turn away from them. Since they are still factious after being admonished again and again, we have to reject them.
This is according to the practice of the quarantining of the lepers in typology (Lev. 13:45-46; Num. 12:10-15). When Moses’ sister, Miriam, rebelled, God punished her with leprosy. Then she was quarantined. To be quarantined is to be put aside for the profit of the whole congregation. This is because certain diseases are very contagious. If a person is sick with a highly contagious disease, he is quarantined, separated even from his family members, until he is healed. This is for the protection of the entire family. The Scriptures charge us in the same way. Anyone who is spiritually sick of the disease of division, having become a divisive person, must be quarantined. Division is very contagious, so the church has to learn to quarantine the divisive ones. According to the apostle’s teaching, we must either turn ourselves away from them or reject them. This protects the entire church so that the church can remain in a safeguarded situation.
I hope that the Holy Spirit will continue to speak to us through this fellowship. If we will spend the time to pray over this fellowship, we will see more light. All the local churches need to be kept in the oneness of the Body of Christ. The seven lampstands in Revelation, typifying the seven local churches, are all identical (1:12). They are all one in the Triune God. We need to be diligent to keep the oneness of the Body of Christ so that the Lord will have a way to accomplish His divine purpose according to His divine economy.
