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Scripture Reading: Col. 1:18; Eph. 4:15-16; Rom. 12:5; Eph. 5:23-24; 1 Tim. 5:17a; 1 Cor. 3:10a; Heb. 13:17; 2 Cor. 3:17; Rom. 8:11, 13; Phil. 1:8; 1 Cor. 12:25b-26
I. Living corporately with the members under the Head — Col. 1:18:
А. Having the Head as the life, the principal object, and the center — Eph. 4:15-16.
B. Coordinating with the members to live a life that expresses the Head — Rom. 12:5.
II. Authority in the Body:
А. The authority of the Head flowing throughout the Body — Eph. 5:23-24.
B. The deputy authorities carrying out the authority of the Head:
1. There being elders in the local churches — 1 Tim. 5:17a.
2. There being leading co-workers in the work — 1 Cor. 3:10a.
C. All the members submitting directly to the Head — Eph. 5:24a.
D. At the same time all the members also submitting to the deputies of the Head — Heb. 13:17.
III. The authority of the Spirit and the Body:
А. The Spirit being the embodiment of the Head — 2 Cor. 3:17.
B. The Spirit living and moving in the members — Rom. 8:11, 13.
IV. The members’ feeling for the Body:
А. Taking the Head’s feeling as their own feeling — Phil. 1:8.
B. In the principle of caring for the Body — 1 Cor. 12:25b-26.
C. In mind, thoughts, words, and actions, taking the Body as the rule, with no separation or disconnection from the Body.
We have seen that the Lord’s aspiration is for all His believers to be one and that the Lord’s pleasure is to have a Body to express and serve Him. This kind of concept is far beyond our natural human thought. In the New Testament there are three books, other than Colossians, that discuss the Body of Christ in detail. One of these three books is Romans (mainly chapter 12). Another one is 1 Corinthians (mainly chapter 12). The third one is Ephesians.
Ephesians 1 begins with the Father God’s selection and predestination in eternity past, passes through Christ’s accomplished redemption, with the Spirit’s sealing and anointing, and through the power of resurrection and ascension and the power that operated in Christ to subject all things to Him and to head up all things in Him, and ends with the church, which is the Body of Christ, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. Such expressions could never be composed by the human mind. They amply prove that the Bible is the inspiration of God. Although with difficulty we understand a little that the church is the Body of Christ, such a thing is not in our concept basically. This is the reason we have neglected this matter in our practice for so many years.
Five years ago we began to change the system. The reason we have to thoroughly replace, according to the Bible, our past methods is that they have produced serious effects. At the beginning we had our practice according to the truth of the Bible, with co-workers raised up by God to receive the commission from Him to convey God’s word to produce churches. Elders were then set up to administrate these churches. This is absolutely correct. But in the past decades, after practicing this way for so long, we have unconsciously developed it into a system. By doing so, the organic aspect of the Body of Christ has gradually been annulled. As a result, a situation has evolved in which we do not have the name of a clergy-laity system, but in reality there is such a system. A minority of people has usurped the life function of all the saints. The main parts of the real service fall on the shoulders of the co-workers and elders. All the others are there only as helpers and supplements. How can this be considered the Body service? The result is that the Body of Christ is almost nullified.
Although the system has been changed for a few years now, to this day we still dare not say that we have the Body service. The main emphasis of the change of system is on removing the minority and having all the members do everything. Although all the churches here have accepted the new way, the intrinsic condition is still not satisfactory; we still do not have every member participating in the practices of the service. We are still quite far from this goal.
In Romans 15 Paul says that he was a priest of the gospel of God, offering the saved Gentiles to God (v. 16). In 1 Peter 2, Peter says that we are a priesthood built up for the telling out of the virtues of Him who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light (vv. 5, 9). This is not an individual preaching the gospel but the Body preaching the gospel. In the past among us we had the so-called gospel preaching by the church. On a specified date a big gospel meeting was called, and all the saints were mobilized to coordinate together. Because the light of the revelation was not strong enough, it was more an outward activity rather than an inward organic matter.
At present the church here is divided into over a hundred and thirty districts. There is also the practice of the gospel, the home meetings, the group meetings, and the district meetings. We can say that there is a definite initial form of the new way and that the new way is beginning to take off. But there is still not much of an organic functioning that originates from within as a result of the saints seeing the revelation. Only when we reach this stage can we consider ourselves as being fully on the track. However, this cannot be accomplished in one or two days. We human beings are living creatures, and it is not that easy to change. There are concepts, habits, and tastes that cannot be removed by force. Notwithstanding, I think that your condition is getting better every year.
My burden in coming back this time is still that the saints would be organic. In the past I came back to change the system. This time I hope that I can change your viewpoint, so that you can realize that only by the saints being organic will anything really work. There is no need to worry about anything. As long as the saints are able to serve organically, all that we hope for will spontaneously come to pass. For this reason I began by speaking about the oneness of the believers. This oneness originates from the Father as the source and has the Father’s life as the element. Hence, this oneness is organic. Furthermore, this oneness is produced by the Father’s word of reality, which sanctifies us from the world. And it is also produced by the Father’s glory, which delivers us from ourselves. Based on this oneness we can have the proper one accord. Our speaking, thinking, perception, and love will all be in the Triune God. Then we will have the living and service of the Body.
I know that while you are serving in the different meeting halls, there are difficulties. Some elders may not be one. This has to do with your degree of maturity, your concern, your view or perception, and the extent to which you give yourself. Hence, we should not put demands on each other. Even if you make demands on others, they may not be able to do it. Everyone should just work in an organic way. You should believe that as long as you go forward, some will follow. Making demands will only create problems, and even more, condemning others will accomplish nothing. Hence, you do not need to demand or condemn at all. Just do as much as you can. If you cannot do it, just wait. You can only pick the grapes when they are ripe. For this reason we have to strive, but we also have to be patient.
In the previous chapter we said that the Triune God has been consummated to become the Spirit and that He is in our spirit. Hence, we all have to learn to live in this mingled spirit. When we are about to speak, we should touch the inner feeling to see if we are in the spirit or not. If we are not in the spirit, even if what we do is good, God will not be pleased with it. Originally, we may want to say something, but when we turn to the spirit, we may choose not to speak. If we learn to live in the spirit this way, others will follow us. In this way, one by one they will walk according to the spirit and touch life, and they will spontaneously have an organic service.
Now we must consider the matter of the living in the Body. On the one hand, the Body is for the expression of Christ; on the other hand, it is for the corporate service to Christ. For expression, its emphasis is on life, and life requires a kind of living. We have to see clearly that not only our service is a matter of the Body, but even our living is a matter of the Body. Practically speaking, however, we are not used to living a Body life. This matter depends on the degree of our understanding. Strictly speaking, according to the revelation of the New Testament, a person who truly touches God’s heart and is an overcomer in the eyes of God is one who is living in the Body and practicing the Body life. He is not spiritual individually and is not overcoming individually. Rather, he understands clearly that he is a member in the Body.
No member can live apart from the Body, yet almost all of us live an abnormal life. We may think that as long as we do not love the world or lust after sin, we are all right. But in fact this is not enough. The most important thing is whether or not we are living in the Body. Is our loving of the Lord and being spiritual, sanctified, and overcoming something in ourselves or something in the Body? If it is in ourselves, it is not worth much. Humanly speaking, it is better to be spiritual than not to be spiritual, and it is better not to commit sin than to commit sin. But from the view of God’s eternal economy, unless we are in the Body, whether or not we are spiritual and whether or not we sin are not worth much. God is not after a group of spiritual and sinless people. Rather, He is after a Body. Only our being in the Body will have eternal value in the eyes of God.
To live in the Body is to live corporately with the members under the Head (Col. 1:18). To live the Body life, first we must be under the Head and take the Head as the life, the principal object, and the center (Eph. 4:15-16). Many people desire to be holy, spiritual, and overcoming. But these are their own desires. They are not under Christ the Head. Instead, they are their own head. This makes them unable to live the Body life. To have the Body life, whatever we think or do has to be under the control of Christ the Head; we have to take Him as the center of our whole being. Second, we have to coordinate with all the members to live a life that expresses the Head (Rom. 12:5). We have to learn to live in the Body and submit to the Head all the time, to care for the feeling of the Body, and to live together with all the members. We should not take our own spirituality, holiness, or victory as the center. This will make us particular and individualistic and will cause us to condemn others and make demands on them. Neither should we try to keep some regulations and conform ourselves to others. Rather, we should live in the Spirit to express Christ in an organic and coordinated way.
In order to live in the Body, we also have to recognize the authority in the Body. In a body there is surely authority. Our human body is very orderly. In the same way God has placed the members, each one of them, in the Body (1 Cor. 12:18) and has blended them together (v. 24). Every member has his own place ordained by God, and everyone should be in order. This is a fact with which we have to come to terms. By doing so, we will neither overestimate ourselves nor despise others, and we will not have any complaints or feel mistreated. All the members are under the authority in the Body.
In the matter of the authority in the Body, first and foremost is the need for the authority of the Head flowing throughout the whole Body (Eph. 5:23-24). In addition, there is deputy authority. In the local churches there are the elders (1 Tim. 5:17a), and in the work there are the leading co-workers (1 Cor. 3:10a). All these are deputy authorities, carrying out the authority of the Head. Hence, in the Body of Christ there is also order in authority. On the one hand, all the members submit directly to the Head (Eph. 5:24a). On the other hand, they submit to the deputies of the Head (Heb. 13:17). When we feel that we are submitting directly to the Head, we must also care for the Body. It is impossible for us to say that we are submitting to the authority of the Head without caring for the Body. We have to take care of both aspects. We should submit to Christ, and we should also submit to the church. Only then is the submission proper. If we would submit only to Christ, without submitting to the Body, that kind of submission will cause problems. If no one cares for the Body, but everyone considers that he is submitting to the Head directly, division will result in the Body. Only by our submitting to the Head on the one hand and to the Body on the other hand can the Head be pleased and the Body preserved.
Following this, we have to consider the authority of the Spirit and the Body. Second Corinthians 3:17 says that the Lord is the Spirit. Thus, we can see that the Spirit is Christ and is therefore the embodiment of the Head. Today He is living and moving in the members (Rom. 8:11, 13). Hence, if we are to live the Body life, we must submit to the Spirit and walk according to the Spirit. Otherwise, we are not living in the Body. A person who lives in the Body must surely submit to the Spirit, for to submit to the Spirit is to accept the authority of the Head in the Body.
Since we are the members of the Body of Christ, we should have a feeling for the Body. First, we must take the feeling of the Head as our own feeling. In Philippians 1:8 Paul says, “I long after you all in the inward parts of Christ Jesus.” This means that Paul took the inward parts of Christ Jesus as his own inward parts in caring for the church. This also means that he took care of the Body of Christ by taking Christ’s feeling as his own feeling. Christ’s feeling became his feeling for the Body. We all should be like Paul, taking the feeling of the Head as our own feeling. This is most necessary for our living the Body life. Furthermore, we should not only take the feeling of the Head as our feeling but also do so in the principle of caring for the Body. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12:25b-26 that “the members would have the same care for one another. And whether one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or one member is glorified, all the members rejoice with it.” In order for us to have the Body life, we must care for our fellow members and must be full of feeling for the Body.
If we as members have the feeling of the Head in everything and care for the Body, we will take the Body as the rule in our mind, thoughts, words, and actions. We should deny ourselves and should identify ourselves with the Body. By doing this, there will be no separation or disconnection from the Body. The life that we live will fully be the Body life, and the Lord will gain the expression of His Body.
