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Scripture Reading: 2 Cor. 1:21-22; 2:14-16
In the previous message we saw a pattern of living Christ for the church. Paul is not a pattern of living a certain culture; he is a pattern of living Christ for the church. When we speak of living Christ for the church, we need to know who Christ is and also what the church is.
Who is Christ? Christ is God processed to be the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit. This expression, brief and accurate, is an explanation of Christ that is according to both the New Testament revelation and our spiritual experience.
For what purpose should we live Christ? Should we live Christ for evangelism? For spirituality? We must live Christ for the church.
Since we need to live Christ for the church, we need to answer an important question: What is the church? First, the church is the assembly of the called-out ones. Second, the church is the organic Body of Christ. Furthermore, the church is the fullness of Christ and also of God, the new man, the habitation of God, and the bride. This is the sequence followed by Paul in the book of Ephesians. Furthermore, according to the book of Revelation, the church is the lampstand. Ultimately in the Bible the church is called the bride. Therefore, if we would know what the church is, we must see that the church is the called assembly, the organic Body of Christ, the fullness of Christ and of God, the new man, the habitation of God, the lampstand, and the bride.
Now I would go on to ask another question, a question that seems very common and ordinary: What does the Bible reveal to us? In particular, what is revealed in the New Testament? Many Christian teachers would say that the New Testament is a revelation of Christ. Perhaps those with a more thorough understanding would say that it speaks concerning Christ and the church. I would say that the best answer to the question regarding what is revealed in the New Testament is that it reveals Christ with the church.
We need to know Christ not merely in a superficial way, but in a deep, profound, and mysterious way. Some believers would say that Christ is God incarnated to be a man named Jesus. This Jesus, a man from Nazareth, eventually was crucified and resurrected. This, of course, is true; it is according to the Bible. We believe all this concerning Christ, for the Bible tells us these things. However, the Bible also reveals deeper matters related to Christ. The Bible shows us not only things that can be compared to “feathers” and “skin”; it also reveals things that can be compared to “meat.”
Many kinds of living things have either skin or feathers. Even garlic has some very thin layers of skin. Before you eat garlic, you first need to peel off the skin. Chickens and other kinds of birds have feathers. When we eat chicken, we pay attention to the meat, not to the feathers. There is a Chinese proverb which refers to insignificant matters as chicken feathers and garlic skins. When we say that a certain matter can be compared to chicken feathers or garlic skin, we do not mean that the matter in question is meaningless or useless. Chicken feathers may be used to stuff a pillow, and garlic skin may be used in making medicine. My purpose in using this illustration is to say that even the divine revelation in the Bible contains “skin” and “feathers,” that is, matters that are necessary and important but are nevertheless somewhat superficial.
We may also use as an illustration the shell of an egg. Without a shell an egg could not exist. But when we eat eggs, we do not eat the shells; rather, we eat what is inside the shell. The revelation in the Bible can be compared to an egg with its shell and contents. Many Christians devote their attention to the “shell.” Using the illustration of the chicken feathers and the garlic skins, we may say that these same Christians concentrate on the “feathers” and “skins” found in the Bible. The shells, the skins, and the feathers all refer to matters that are true and important. Nevertheless, as we shall seek to make clear, they are not the “meat” of the divine revelation.
During the period known as the Dark Ages, from approximately the sixth century to the sixteenth, the Bible was locked away, and even the skins and the feathers were lost. In the Reformation the Bible was opened to a certain extent, and the revelation of the divine Word was somewhat recovered. During the Reformation the skins and the feathers were recovered; however, the depths of the Word were not opened very much.
Let us take some examples from 1 Corinthians to illustrate what we mean by the feathers, skin, and meat in the Word. First Corinthians 1:12 says, “Now I mean this, that each of you says, I am of Paul, and I of Apollos, and I of Cephas, and I of Christ.” This verse speaks of divisiveness. Regarding division, some of the Brethren teachers said something like this: “In 1 Corinthians 1:12 Paul rebukes those who say that they are of Cephas, of Apollos, of Paul, and of Christ. Why, then, do you take such names as Lutheran, Baptist, Presbyterian, or Wesleyan? To say that you are a Lutheran means that you are of Luther. Does not Paul’s word apply to the matter of assuming denominational names? This practice must be rebuked.” This is sound, fundamental teaching. Nevertheless, this teaching is skins and feathers. It is not the meat of the Word.
If we would learn to eat in a healthy way, we should not eat the feathers and the skins. Instead, we should eat the meat. When I eat chicken, I eat only the meat, not the feathers, the skin, or the bone. In the same principle, when we come to 1 Corinthians 1, we should pay attention not merely to the feathers in verse 12, but to the meat in verse 9.
Does 1 Corinthians primarily reveal the matter of division? No, the basic revelation here concerns the fellowship of God’s Son. Furthermore, this chapter teaches that Christ, the crucified One, is God’s wisdom and power to us. This Christ is now our daily righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. This is the basic revelation in chapter one of 1 Corinthians.
If we would eat the meat of a chicken, we need to pluck out the feathers and peel off the skin. In like manner, if we would find the meat in 1 Corinthians 1, we must go deeper than the feathers and the skin in this chapter. Then we shall see past the divisions and the divisive spirit and see that Christ, the Son of God, is our portion and that He, God’s wisdom and power, may be enjoyed as our daily righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. We all need to see Christ in this way and partake of such rich food. If we remain in verse 12, concentrating on the matter of division, we shall have only the feathers and the skins. We shall not enjoy the healthy meat — Christ as our portion. I can testify that when I read 1 Corinthians 1, I do not pay attention only to the skin of divisiveness; much more, I enjoy the crucified Christ as my portion and as my righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.
Many Christians have not seen the meat in chapter one of 1 Corinthians. Some see only the feathers; others, going somewhat deeper, see the skin. But when I tell the believers that they must go beyond the skin and the feathers and touch the meat, some are offended and even oppose me. They are like my grandchildren who complain when I tell them to eat the meat of the chicken and not to eat the skin. In my ministry I am doing my best to show the Lord’s people the meat that lies beneath the feathers and the skin.
Recently I read an article in which I was accused of destroying the practice of Christmas. Actually I do not have any intention to attack the practice of Christmas. My time is fully occupied with ministering Christ to others. But while I am ministering Christ, Christmas is spontaneously exposed. Yes, I have said that we should care fully for Christ and forget about the so-called Christ-mass or Christmas. I have also said that we should be Christians, but not care for the “-anity” of Christianity. I certainly do not have the intention of opposing either Christmas or Christianity. Nevertheless, in my ministry I have said that we should care for Christ and be real Christians, but have nothing to do with the “-mass” or “-anity.” When certain ones hear such a word, they accuse me of opposing Christianity and ruining the practice of Christmas.
Actually, Christmas and the system of Christianity include many things that are not even the genuine feathers and skins in the Bible. It is a fact that Christ was born in a manger and raised in Nazareth. These definitely are truths in the Bible; however they are “feather-truths” or “skin-truths,” not “meat-truths.” An example of a “meat-truth” is John 1:1 and 14. These verses declare that the Word, which is God, became flesh and tabernacled among us, full of grace and reality. John 1:16 goes on to say, “For of His fullness we all received, and grace upon grace.” Verse 4 of the same chapter says this: “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” In these verses we have meat, not feathers or skin.
More meat is found in chapters fourteen and fifteen of the Gospel of John. John 14:23 says, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My Word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make an abode with him.” This verse says nothing about Christmas, Easter, or the system of Christianity. Neither do any other verses in the Gospel of John. This verse declares that the Son and the Father will make an abode with the one who loves the Lord Jesus. Furthermore, in John 15:4 the Lord says, “Abide in Me and I in you.” In this chapter He also says,“I am the vine, you are the branches” (v. 5). Verses such as these do not have any feathers or skin. Rather, they are full of nourishing meat.
When you eat a chicken dinner, do you pay attention mainly to the skin or to the meat? Certainly we would all concentrate on the meat. If my wife were to serve me a meal of chicken skin, I would be very unhappy. However, my wife would never do such a thing. Instead, she would serve the nourishing meat of the chicken. I enjoy this kind of meat, and I am strengthened and supplied by it.
What kind of Bible do you have? Is your Bible a book only of feathers or of skins, or is your Bible more a book of meat? We should be careful about the way we answer this question. The best answer is to say, “My Bible is not only a book of feathers and skins, but also a book of rich meat.” A chicken needs feathers and skin as well as meat. Without feathers and skin, a chicken would not be able to grow. In like manner, in the Bible we have the skin, the feathers, and the meat. But the tragedy among Christians today is that they care for the feathers and the skin, but they do not care much for the meat. Therefore, my burden is to minister the meat of the Word to the Lord’s people.
In the book of 1 Corinthians there are many feathers, and there is a great deal of skin. But in our spiritual cooking we need to pay more attention to the meat. Most readers of 1 Corinthians 5 pay attention to an uncomely feather, the case of the sinful brother who committed incest. In reading this chapter we cannot avoid this matter. But this is not the only matter covered in this chapter. In verses 7 and 8 Paul says, “For indeed our Passover, Christ, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore keep the feast....” Paul’s word about the Passover and keeping the feast is not skin or feathers — it is meat. Here Paul indicates that we are keeping the feast of unleavened bread. Christ is our Passover and our feast of unleavened bread. We can enjoy Him and feast on Him throughout our Christian life.
The feast of unleavened bread lasted for seven days. These seven days typify the entire course of our Christian life. Therefore, during our whole Christian life, Christ is our feast, our unleavened bread. The more we feast on Him, the more we become unleavened.
By comparing the meat in 1 Corinthians 5 with the feathers, we learn the proper way to study the Bible. As we read the Bible, we need to pay attention not only to the feathers and the skin, but much more to the meat. I hope that this word concerning the feathers, the skin, and the meat will be helpful to us in our reading of the Word of God.
In the foregoing message we pointed out that Paul is a pattern of a person who lives Christ for the church. Now we must go on to ask what kind of person Paul was as such a pattern. The answer to this question is that Paul was an attached person, a person attached to Christ, the anointed One. In 2 Corinthians 1:21 Paul says, “But He Who firmly attaches us with you unto Christ and has anointed us is God.” Anyone who is not attached to Christ, any unattached person, cannot live Christ for the church. If we would live Christ for the church, we must learn of Paul as our pattern to be a person attached to Christ.
According to 1:21, those who are attached to Christ are anointed by God. Hence, one who lives Christ for the church must be an anointed person. It is not sufficient to be educated, instructed, or trained; we must be anointed. If we are not anointed, we cannot live Christ for the church. We all need to be anointed.
In 1:22 Paul goes on to say that God “has also sealed us and given the pledge of the Spirit in our hearts.” One who lives Christ for the church is also a person who has been sealed by God. To be sealed by God means to be owned, possessed, by Him. If we have not been sealed by God, we cannot live Christ for the church.
In 2:14 Paul says, “But thanks be to God, Who always leads us in triumph in the Christ, and manifests through us the savor of the knowledge of Him in every place.” As we have pointed out, the verb “leads us in triumph” means to lead a man as a captive in a triumphal procession. Therefore, in this verse Paul refers to being captured by Christ. According to the human concept, it is not a good thing to be captured. No one wants to be a captive. But we need to be captured by the Lord so that we may live Christ for the church.
We also need to be subdued. However, neither the brothers nor the sisters like to be subdued. It is surely very difficult for a young woman to be subdued by her husband. Rather, her attitude may be that even though she married her husband, she has no intention of being subdued by him. Naturally speaking, none of us likes to be subdued. For us, it is humiliating to be subdued. Nevertheless, if we would live Christ for the church, we must be subdued. It is not humiliating to be subdued by the Lord — it is glorious.
Finally, if we would live Christ for the church, we must be led by Him. We need to be captured, subdued, and led. We, however, prefer to lead others, not to be led by someone else. If we would live Christ for the church, we all need to be led.
Concerning living Christ for the church, we have listed six matters: attached, anointed, sealed, captured, subdued, and led. As we shall see in the next message, all this is that we may scatter the incense of Christ.
