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Scripture Reading: Eph. 1:23; 4:4-6; 1 Cor. 12:13, 18, 21-25, 27; Rom. 12:5; Eph. 4:15-16; 1 Cor. 12:4-11; Rom. 12:4-8
I. The expression of the Lord’s Body:
А. The church being the Body of Christ — Eph. 1:23.
B. The church being the fullness of the One who fills all in all — v. 23.
C. One Body, one Spirit, one Lord, and one God and Father, who is over all, through all, and in all — 4:4-6.
D. Many believers being baptized in one Spirit into one Body to be members individually — 1 Cor. 12:13, 27:
1. God having placed the members in the Body even as He willed; every member being necessary — vv. 18, 21-22.
2. God blending the Body together, clothing the less honorable members with more abundant honor, lest there be division in the Body — vv. 23-25.
E. The believers being members one of another in the Body of Christ, living Him and expressing Him together — Rom. 12:5.
F. All the members holding to truth in love, growing up in all things into the Head, Christ — Eph. 4:15.
G. Out from the Head the whole Body, being joined together through every joint of the rich supply and being knit together through the operation in the measure of each one part, causing the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love, that Christ may have a full expression — v. 16.
II. The service in the Lord’s Body:
А. The same God with different operations, the same Lord with different ministries, and the same Spirit with different gifts — 1 Cor. 12:4-6.
B. The many different gifts being the manifestation of the Spirit in all the members, being manifested in words of wisdom, words of knowledge, faith, gifts of healing, works of power, prophecy, discerning of spirits, various kinds of tongues, interpretation of tongues; these being mostly miraculous gifts of the Spirit — vv. 7-11.
C. The members of the Body having gifts that differ according to the grace given to them, resulting in different functions — in prophecy, service, teaching, exhortation, giving, leading, and showing mercy; these being gifts produced through the growth in life — Rom. 12:4-8.
D. All the members, through the miraculous gifts of the Spirit with the gifts produced through the growth in life, serving and propagating Christ together.
In the previous chapter we saw the genuine oneness in a simple and concise way. Based on this view of the genuine oneness, we mentioned that to practice the oneness, there must be the one accord. Now we have to go one step further to consider the Body of Christ. Before we consider this matter, I want to give an additional word concerning the previous chapter.
The light that the Lord gave us concerning the oneness of the believers can be considered the most thorough and deep. Our knowledge in the past concerning the oneness was relatively shallow and common, and it did not touch the genuine oneness that was prayed for by the Lord and mentioned for the first time in the New Testament in John 17. Although our Recovery Version has listed this oneness in a clear way in its outline, it has not emphasized it as much as we did this time. In the Lord’s prayer He spoke of the oneness of the believers in three levels. Each level of the oneness is deeper than the previous one. The last level is the deepest and highest. All three levels of oneness have everything related to the Father as their foundation. The foundation of the first level of the oneness is the Father’s name and His eternal life. The foundation of the second level is the Father’s word. In the Father’s word, there is the Father’s reality, which is just the Father Himself. The foundation of the third level of the oneness is the Father’s glory, which is the divine expression of the Father.
Moreover, the foundations of the three levels of the oneness are all expressed by the Lord in the way of giving. The Lord said, “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world” (v. 6). The Father’s name is the Father Himself. In giving us the Father’s name, the Lord is giving us the Father Himself. At the same time He has also given us the Father’s life. John 17:2 says, “Even as You have given Him authority over all flesh to give eternal life to all whom You have given Him.” In verse 14 the Lord said again, “I have given them Your word.” Verse 17 says, “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.” The Lord has given us the Father’s word, which together with God Himself as the reality, the truth, is sanctifying us and delivering us from the mixed-up world to separate us unto God. The Lord has not only given us the Father’s name, the Father’s life, and the Father’s word but has also given us the Father’s glory. In verse 22 the Lord said, “The glory which You have given Me I have given to them.” Hence, the Lord has given us four things: the Father’s name, the Father’s life, the Father’s word, and the Father’s glory.
This shows us clearly that each of the three levels of oneness has a basis. Each level is based upon the Triune God. This is the foundation of the oneness of the saints. In other words, the factor or element of our oneness is just the Triune God. In verse 11 the Lord said, “That they may be one even as We are.” Here they refers to the saints, and We refers to the Triune God. The Divine Trinity makes us one even as the Father and the Son are one. In verse 21 the Lord said further, “That they all may be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us.” This matter of being in one another mutually is a kind of mingling. The Triune God and we are mingled together. This is the biblical oneness of the believers. The source of this oneness is the Triune God. Its element is the Triune God, its process is the Triune God, and its ultimate consummation is the Triune God.
Seemingly, the oneness that the Lord prayed for in John 17 and the oneness of the Spirit that Paul describes in Ephesians 4 are not alike. But when we dive into these two passages of the Scriptures, we can see that as far as the intrinsic element is concerned, they are the same. What the Lord prayed for in John 17 is for the saints to be mingled with the Triune God. Then in Ephesians 4 Paul says that there is a kind of oneness called the oneness of the Spirit. It is the inheritance and the possession of the saints. We do not need to strive for it. All we need to do is to keep this oneness. Following this, Paul points out seven items as the basis of this oneness. Among them there is the one God and Father of all, the one Lord, the one Spirit, and the one Body. The Triune God — the Father, the Son, and the Spirit — are the factors of this oneness. They also become the elements of this oneness, mingling with the saints to produce a fourth factor, which is the one Body. To put it simply, oneness is the result of the Triune God being mingled with His redeemed, regenerated, and transformed people. This oneness is the Body, which is the universal new man.
Hence, the oneness revealed in the New Testament is not a oneness where we come together, give up our prejudices, and convince each other to agree to be together. This is a oneness produced by the world. The oneness we are talking about is the full mingling of the Triune God with us. If we do not see this matter to such an extent, I am afraid that the oneness we are talking about is only human-manufactured oneness; it is not the oneness of the Body. The Body of Christ is not an organization but an organism in which the Triune God is everything. The Triune God has accomplished redemption and has been consummated to be the Spirit, entering into us believers, quickening our spirit, and making our spirit life. Then He spreads outward from our spirit to the mind in our soul, renewing and transforming our mind and resulting in our mind becoming life. Furthermore, when we walk by the Spirit and always put to death the practices of the body, the indwelling Spirit will transfuse the life of God into our body and will give life to our mortal body. In this way our whole being — spirit, soul, and body — will be fully mingled with the Triune God.
This mingling of the Triune God is in you, in me, and in every saint. Moreover, the common and unique life, which is in all the millions of believers, has mingled us all into one. This is the oneness of the Body. This oneness has nullified all our old creation and the natural man. This is accomplished by the Father’s name and the Father’s life. This oneness has also sanctified us from the Satan-ensnared world and has freed us from the world and Satan. This is the effect of the Father’s word of reality. Finally, this oneness will deliver us from the self so that there will be only God, and the splendid glory of divinity will be expressed.
May the Lord be merciful to us that we would see this revelation and would genuinely practice this oneness. Our human source, our natural life, the world with Satan, and even our selves are all put aside to allow this Triune God, who is mingling Himself in us, to fill and saturate us, with the result that the radiance of His divinity and the splendor of His glory are expressed, thus attaining to the highest level of oneness. This then is the church. In this oneness our natural source, life, and element are all nullified. The world is put aside, our self has no more ground, and spontaneously we will be in one accord.
After studying the Bible and looking into church history, we realize that although this matter is revealed in God’s holy Word in such a way, the practice of the church on earth is greatly contrary to such revelation. Many problems arose and even divisions were created as a result of man becoming the source and man’s natural life being active. In the church life, when there is too much human natural element, there will be opinions. First, they will create dissension. Later, they will lead to division, and eventually, they will end up in sects. This kind of thing has happened again and again throughout the last two thousand years. Those of us in the Lord’s recovery are no exception to this. From 1933 when I entered the work of the Lord’s recovery until today we have had a storm every few years. It seems as if this matter is a cycle. It is like our own body when infected with germs or poison. When the time is ripe, the sickness surfaces.
Recently, I have spent some time to list all the great and small problems in the churches in the New Testament. From the murmuring of the Hellenistic saints in Acts 6 to the failure of the church in Laodicea in Revelation 3, there were altogether fifty-one cases (see the book The Intrinsic Problem in the Lord’s Recovery Today and Its Scriptural Remedy, ch. 3). We can say that all of them violated the genuine oneness the Lord gave to the church. For this reason I treasure the oneness all the more. May we all emphasize the oneness that the Lord has given us and preserve the oneness of the Spirit by being mingled constantly with the Triune God, thus removing the natural man, the world, and our self, and satisfying the aspiration of the Lord’s desire.
In the first chapter we mentioned the aspiration in the Lord’s desire, which is the oneness of the believers. In this chapter we come to the pleasure of the Lord’s heart, which is the expression and service of His Body. The thing that pleases the Lord the most is the expression of His Body and the service to Him. Let us first consider the expression of the Lord’s Body.
Ephesians 1:23 says that the church “is His Body, the fullness of the One who fills all in all.” The church is the Body of Christ. It is not a human organization but the organism of the Triune God. This Body is the fullness of Christ. Fullness means expression. Christ is the all-inclusive, expansive God. He is so vast that He fills all and is in all. Such a great Christ requires the church to be His fullness that He may have a full expression.
When we come to Ephesians 4:4-6, we see one Body, one Spirit, one Lord, and one God and Father of all, who is over all, through all, and in all. This shows us that the Body of Christ is uniquely one. In this unique Body is the one Spirit. At the same time this Body is of one Lord and is constituted by one God and Father who is over all, through all, and in all. Hence, this Body of Christ is fully mingled with the Triune God as the Father, the Son, and the Spirit.
Furthermore, this Body of Christ is composed of all the regenerated believers. First Corinthians 12 says that we were all baptized in one Spirit into one Body (v. 13) and are members individually (v. 27). As soon as we were baptized, we were brought into an organic union with the Triune God to become living members of the Body of Christ. Furthermore, He has placed all the members in the Body even as He willed (v. 18). Each one of us members has our own place in the Body of Christ. It is assigned by God and should be accepted by us. Since such an assignment is according to God’s will, every member is necessary (v. 21). Especially those members who are uncomely are more necessary (vv. 22-23).
God has not merely placed all the members in the Body. He has even mingled them together. Verses 24 and 25 say, “God has blended the body together, giving more abundant honor to the member that lacked, that there would be no division in the body, but that the members would have the same care for one another.” According to His will, God has placed and blended us, the different members of Christ, together. It is as if we have been married. There can be no divorce. No matter how we feel, whether the situation is good or bad, easy or difficult, we all need more transformation to practice the Body life through the one Spirit so that every member will receive abundant honor.
The purpose of us believers being members one of another in the Body of Christ is that we would live Christ and express Him together (Rom. 12:5). According to the New Testament, none of us believers can live and work alone apart from the Body. Our living and work must all be in the Body of Christ. As members of the Body of Christ, we are not separate and complete individual units. Rather, we should coordinate together to become the many parts of the one whole. What the Lord wants is not individual members but a whole Body. However, most Christians are negligent concerning this matter. They think that it is all right as long as they love and fear the Lord and preach the gospel to bring others to salvation. But as far as the expression of the Lord’s Body is concerned, this is not good at all. We have to see that in the Lord’s recovery, one great item is the recovery of the Lord’s Body. All our living and work must be in the Body of Christ. We do not live Christ alone. Rather, we live Christ with all the members. In this way we will express Christ in a corporate way. By ourselves, none of us is the fullness of Christ. It is the church as the Body that is the fullness of Christ and the expression of Christ.
For this reason, all of us members have to hold to truth in love that we may grow up into the Head, Christ, in all things (Eph. 4:15). Through the love of Christ within us, we love Christ and the members of His Body. In this love we hold to the reality, which is to hold to Christ with His Body. In this way we will have Christ increase in us in all things, and we will grow into the Head, Christ. The word Head here indicates that our growth in Christ should be a growth as members in the Body under the Head. Hence, our growth is not only in Christ but also in His Body.
When we grow into the Head in this way, we can produce out from the Head many functions for the building up of His Body. Ephesians 4:16 tells us that out from the Head the whole Body is being joined together through every joint of the rich supply and is being knit together through the operation in the measure of each one part to grow together and to build up itself in love so that Christ may have a full expression. Every one of us as members of the Body of Christ has a measure through the growth in life and can function for the growth and building up of the Body of Christ.
Now let us come to the second main point, which is the service in the Lord’s Body. The service in the Lord’s Body is related to the operation of the Triune God in all the members. First Corinthians 12:4-6 shows us that we have the same God but different operations, we have the same Lord but different ministries, and we have the same Spirit but different gifts. Here we can see that the gifts come through the Spirit, the ministries are initiated by the Lord, and the operations are of God. Here the Triune God is related to the gifts, the ministries, and the operations. The gifts that come through the Spirit are to accomplish the ministries for the Lord through which the functions that result from the operations and works of God are manifested. This is the operation of the Triune God in the believers for the accomplishment of God’s plan unto the building up of the church, which is the Body of Christ, as the full expression of Christ.
Following this, from verses 7 to 11, we see that the many gifts of the many members are the manifestation of the Spirit in all the members, being manifested in words of wisdom, words of knowledge, faith, healing, works of power, prophecy, discerning of spirits, tongues, and interpretation of tongues. Most of these are the miraculous gifts from the Spirit. The Spirit manifests Himself in this way in all the members so that the Body of Christ will receive the profit.
Other than the miraculous gifts of the Spirit, there are also the gifts that come from the growth in life of the members. This is mainly recorded in Romans 12:4-8. Here the members of the Body receive different gifts according to the grace given to each one, from which are produced different functions, whether they be prophecy, or service, or teaching, or exhortation, or giving, or leading, or showing mercy. All these are gifts produced through the growth in life. Every one of us as members of the Body of Christ has received a gift from God. This gift is God in Christ as the divine element entering into us as our life and enjoyment. When this grace enters into us, it brings in the element of spiritual skill and capability, which is developed into gifts of life through the growth of life within us. In this way we will be able to serve Christ and function in His Body.
Therefore, there are two categories of gifts: the miraculous gifts of the Spirit and the gifts that come through the growth in life. The former are mainly for work and service, and the latter are mainly for the growth of the Body. The service in the Body of Christ cannot depend merely on the miraculous gifts. There is the need for the matching of the gifts of life. The Body service that the Lord is after is one in which the members serve Christ and propagate Him together through the miraculous gifts of the Spirit with the gifts that come through the growth in life in the members.
We all need to see the genuine oneness, the proper one accord, and the expression and service of the Body of Christ. With this basic understanding, many of the problems among us can be avoided and much misunderstanding between each other can be removed. The reason we cannot be one or cannot be in one accord is that the view is short and the viewpoints are different. But if we have this basic understanding and allow the divine revelation to enter into us, there will spontaneously be the one accord, which will bring in the genuine oneness, and there will be the expression and service of the Body of Christ.
