Watchman Nee The Body of Christ A Reality

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The Body of Christ: A Reality

Watchman Nee
Translator's Preface
"And gave Him [Christ] to be head over all things to the church, which is His
body, the fullness of Him that fills all in all" (Eph. 1:22,23). As Christ the Head is
a reality, so the church as the body of Christ is a reality. To many, however, the
body of Christ is a vague, nebulous and abstract term. It is merely a beautiful
concept or a noble theory. It is not a living reality as is presented in the
Scriptures. The time has come, and now is, that all who seek the Lord should
enter into a new understanding of the body of Christ. We need to see that the
body of Christ is a life which we live in. It ought to become our daily experience.
In this little volume of collected messages selected for the unity of their subject
matter and given by the author through years of faithful ministry, Watchman Nee
attempts to show us the reality of the body of Christ. He proves to us that the
body of Christ is founded on life and life consciousness. It is built on a living
relationship among its members as well as with its head. This body is governed
by its own laws, and blessed are those who discover these laws and follow them.
To them the body of Christ is indeed a living reality.
May God grant to all who read this book wisdom and strength for living in the
reality of the body of Christ.
1. Life and Consciousness
In Him was life; and the life was the light of men. (Jn. 1:4)
So then, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the
flesh. (Rom. 8:12)
And whether one member suffers, all the members suffer with it;
or one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. (1 Cor.
12:26)
From the human standpoint, life seems to be rather intangible and quite
abstract. How can anyone present life in such manner as to cause people to
recognize that it in fact is life? We cannot take life as such and explain it to
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others, neither can others explain it to us. Nevertheless, we may all know and
recognize this life through the feeling of life's consciousness, which to us is far
more substantial. Now by the same token, the life which God has given to the
Christian believer can likewise be known by its consciousness. Although we
cannot take hold of such divine life and show it to ourselves or to other people,
we nonetheless know we have this new life because there is within us an
altogether new consciousness.
Consciousness of God's Life
After a person has accepted the Lord we say he not only is saved but also has
been regenerated. This means that this man is now born of God. He has
received a new life from Him. Yet this is something difficult to explain. How does
he know he has the life of God? How will other people know he has divine life?
How will the church recognize that he has the life of God? The presence of divine
life is proven through life's consciousness. If the life of God is in him, the
consciousness of that life must be in him as well.
What is life's consciousness? A Christian who is occasionally overcome by sin

feels most uncomfortable. And this is one facet of consciousness. He feels
restless when he sins. He immediately senses a veil between him and God after
he has sinned and instantly loses his inner joy. Such manifestations as these are
facets of life's consciousness, for because the life of God hates sin, therefore a
person who has God's life must also have a certain feeling against sin. The very
fact of his possessing this life's sense proves he possesses such life.
Suppose a man says he has confessed he is a sinner and has also accepted the
Lord Jesus as his Savior, but he never has any sense against sin. Is this man
born again? In such a case, if he should commit any sin, someone has to go to
his home and tell him that what he has done is wrong before he will ever
acknowledge that he has indeed done wrong. When a person asks him why he
commits such a wrong, he will ignorantly answer, Why can't I do it? When a
second time he is informed that he has committed another sin, he again will
confess that he has done something wrong. Yet not long afterwards he commits
another sin, and someone is once more obliged to tell him of this transgression
before he once again acknowledges his sin, and someone is once more obliged
to tell him of this transgression before he once again acknowledges this wrong.
Here, it is not that he does not listen to his prompter's word; as a matter of fact
he is quite obedient to the other person's word. The problem is, though, that he
himself has no spiritual consciousness. Can it therefore be said that such a
person has God's life if he is utterly void of any spiritual awareness and that
others have to feel for him? If he has the life of God, he should have its
consciousness with him. It is absolutely impossible for a person to have spiritual
life and yet not have the consciousness of that life. The life of God is not
something nebulous, nor is it abstract; it is very concrete and substantial. And
how do we know it is substantial? Because such life has its own consciousness.
Having the life of God, a person is not only, negatively speaking, aware of sins
but he also, positively speaking, knows God: for what we receive is not the spirit
of a bond-slave but the spirit of sonship. We just naturally feel that God is very
approachable and that calling Him "Abba, Father" is most sweet (Gal. 4:6). The
Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God (Rom. 8:16).
Knowing God as Father is therefore the inner consciousness of this life.
Some people merely have doctrinal understanding; they have never met God;
and they are therefore afraid of Him whom they cannot touch. They do not have
any life relationship with God, and the Holy Spirit has not borne witness with
their spirit that they are God's children. They cannot cry out of their spirit, Abba,
Father. Such people may pray, though in their prayer they neither sense the
distance of sin nor the nearness of the Lord. They do not have the feeling of the
awfulness of sin nor the intimacy of God. They have no relationship with Him
because they have not yet received new life from Him. Hence they do not feel
that God is near, nor do they sense that Christ has already removed the wall of
partition between them and God. In short, they do not have the consciousness of
being the children of God. They may confess that they are Christians, but their
feeling before God is inadequate. Though with their mouth they may say,
"Heavenly Father," there is no such sensation within them. Only the presence of
such a consciousness proves the existence of such a life. Now if there has never
been such an awareness, how can anyone say that there is such life within
them?
Body Consciousness a Facet of Life's Consciousness
The same is true with regard to the body of Christ. Many brothers and sisters
ask: How can I say I have seen the body of Christ? On what ground may I assert
that I have lived out the life of the body of Christ? Our answer is simple: all who
know the life of the body of Christ will have the consciousness of the body of
Christ. If you have really seen the body, you cannot but have body
consciousness - because the life in you being a reality and an experience, it
cannot fail to show forth its consciousness. You perceive the body of Christ not
only as a principle or as a teaching but you discover that the body of Christ is a
matter of real inward consciousness.
"And whether one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or one
member is honored, all the members rejoice with it" (1 Cor. 12:26). Suffering is
a sensation, so is rejoicing a sensation. Although the members are many, the life
is one, and so, too, the consciousness is one.
Let us take the example of a person who may have had installed in his body an
artificial leg. Now although it may appear to be almost the same as the other real
leg, it nevertheless has no life in it. It therefore has no body consciousness; for
when other members suffer, this artificial leg does not feel anything - when other
members rejoice, the artificial limb senses no elation. All the other members
have the same awareness because they all possess the one common life. The
artificial leg alone has no awareness because there is not that life in it.
Life cannot be simulated, nor does it need to be. If there is life there is no need
to pretend; if there is not life there is no possibility to pretend. The most
distinctive expression of life is its consciousness. Hence a Christian who sees the
body life will invariably have body consciousness with other members of the
body.
The Teaching of the Body vs. Its Reality
In spiritual things, knowing doctrine without having consciousness is of no avail.

Someone, for instance, may say that lying is a sin which he should not commit
because he has been told by other people that a Christian should not tell lies.
The real issue here is not a matter of whether or not it is right to lie, rather is it s
a question of whether he is inwardly aware of it or not when he tells a lie. If he
has no inward consciousness that his lying is a sin, then however much he may
confess with his mouth that lying is a sin, it does not help him at all. He may say
on the one hand that a person should not lie but on the other hand he constantly
lies. What is special with those who have God's life is that when they lie
outwardly, they feel bad inwardly - not because they know doctrinally that lying
is wrong, but because they feel uncomfortable inwardly if they do lie. This is
what being called a Christian really signifies. What characterizes a Christian is an
inward awareness of this life consciousness of which we have been speaking. He
who has no life and no inner consciousness is not a Christian. Outward rules are
merely standards, not life.
Let it be said that it is totally inadequate for a person to say, "I know the
teaching of the body of Christ, therefore I must not move independently"; he
needs also to have an inner consciousness of such a teaching. Suppose he says
with his mouth that he should not be independent and yet when he acts
independently he fails to be aware of such independence; he is thereby proven
to have never truly seen the body of Christ. This does not mean he has not
heard the teaching of the body of Christ: it simply indicates that he has not seen
its reality.
Hearing the teaching and seeing the reality of the body of Christ belong to two
totally different realms. Hearing the teaching of the body is merely an outward
understanding of a principle, whereas seeing the body of Christ produces a
consciousness within. It is similar to the situation in which merely hearing the
doctrine of salvation only gives the person the knowledge of how God saves
sinners, but that inwardly accepting the Lord Jesus as Savior creates within that
person an awareness of God as well as a consciousness of sin. What a difference
between the two! Consequently, we should not overlook this matter of life
consciousness (it not simply being an outward sensation, but an inward feeling
too). Such consciousness is life's expression. The presence or absence of this
consciousness reveals the reality or unreality within. It gives us insight into
whether or not there is the life of Christ within.
Life's consciousness is distinctive in that it enables you to know spontaneously

without the need of being told. It is too late if you must be told before you know.
What would happen if every Christian needed to be told what sin is and what
should not be done? What if, in this event, nobody is at your side? What if you
forget after being told? Oh, let us see that a Christian does not act according to
what he hears from people without, but he is motivated by what he is told from
within. Within him is a life - an inner light, an inner consciousness. It comes from
the inner shining of God's light: it comes from the life inside and not from
outside information.
When we are born again we receive a very real life. We thus have within us a
very real consciousness. The reality of such consciousness proves the reality of
divine life. Let us ask God to be merciful to us that we may always touch this life
consciousness and live therein. Let us also ask God to give us rich consciousness
so that we may have a sensitive awareness in all things: that we may be aware
of God, of sin, of the body of Christ, and of all spiritual realities. May God lead
our way and glorify His own name!
2. The Consciousness of the Body of Christ
For I say, through the grace that was given me, to every man that
is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to
think; but so to think soberly, according as God has dealt to each
man a measure of faith. For even as we have many members in
one body, and all the members have not the same office: so we,
who are many, are one body in Christ, and severally members one
of another. (Rom. 12:3-5)
In the previous chapter we came to understand a little how consciousness

reveals life. Here we will continue further so that we may understand what the
consciousness of the body of Christ exactly is.
Love the Brethren
Let us first approach it from the standpoint of love. One thing is quite marvelous
when we contemplate this verse: "We know that we have passed out of death
into life, because we love the brethren" (1 Jn. 3:14). All who have passed out of
death into life love one another. All who have become members of the same
spiritual body love one another. Such love comes from life and it flows
spontaneously. Could a person be considered a child of God if, after answering
affirmatively in a church meeting that he is a Christian and after being reminded
that as a Christian he ought to love other Christians, he then says, "I will start to
love other Christians tomorrow if you say so"? Oh let us see that everyone who is
truly born from above and has the life of God spontaneously loves all who are
members together with him in the body of Christ. Whether he is reminded or
not, he has a consciousness of loving the brethren. He unquestionably needs
many times to be reminded of loving the brethren. Yet this reminder does not
add anything to him which is not already within him, it instead merely stirs up
into more fervency what is already present in him. If the love of God is present
in a person, the love of the brethren is there. And if God's love is absent,
brotherly love is not there. It is that simple. Nothing can be created or
manufactured. When a believer meets another person who belongs to God he
strangely but quite naturally loves him because he has that inner consciousness
within him which must express itself in love towards that other person.
Once a son was born to a brother in Christ. He was asked, "Now that you have
become a father, do you love your son?" His answer was: "A week before I was
to be a father, I kept thinking how I should love my son. But as soon as my son
was born - the moment I saw him - my heart quite naturally when out to him
and I simply loved him." We see here how human love springs from a
consciousness inside, it is not taught from outside. Likewise, all the children of
God who are bought with the blood of the Lamb and receive God's life and are
baptized into the body of Christ cannot help but be moved from within to love
one another as members of the same body.
Oftentimes when you meet an individual who is truly of the Lord, your heart
goes out to him as soon as you learn he is a Christian, regardless whether he
comes from abroad or is a native citizen, whether he is highly civilized or
uncultured, or regardless of what race or profession he may be. Love is an inner
consciousness. If you are in the same spiritual body, you naturally have this kind
of consciousness.
No Division
One who has seen the body of Christ and who thus possesses the consciousness
of the body feels unbearable inside when he does anything which may cause
division or separate God's children. For he loves all who belong to God and
cannot divide His children. Love is natural to the body of Christ, whereas division
is most unnatural. It is just as in the case with our two hands: no matter for how
many reasons one hand may be raised against the other hand, there is no way
to sever their relationship: division is simply impossible.
Perhaps a person is proud of himself for being one who has left a sect and thus
deems himself to be a person who knows the body of Christ. As a matter of fact,
however, leaving a denomination is not necessarily the same as, or an indication
of, seeing the body of Christ. It is quite true that whoever discerns the body is
delivered from denominationalism. But who can claim he has apprehended the
body of Christ simply because he has left a denomination? Outwardly many have
left a denomination, yet they simply set up another kind for themselves
elsewhere. Their leaving the denomination merely demonstrates their own latent
feeling of superiority; they fail to comprehend that all the members of the body
are their brothers and sisters and therefore all are loving. For this reason, let us
realize that all sectarian spirit, divisive attitude, outward action, or inward
thought which separate God's children are the unfailing signs of not knowing the
body of Christ.
The body of Christ will deliver us from sect and sectarianism; it will also save us
from self and individualism. How sad that the life principle of many is not the
body but the individual self. We may discover this principle of individualism in
many areas. For example, in a prayer meeting someone can only pray by
himself, since he cannot pray with other people. His physical body may kneel
together with others, yet his consciousness is circumscribed by his own self.
When he prays, he wishes other people to listen to him; but when others pray,
he will not listen to them. He has no inner response to another's prayer, and he
is unable to offer up an amen. His consciousness is disconnect4ed from the
consciousness of other people. Hence he prays his prayers and lets the others
pray their prayers. There appears to be no relationship between his prayers and
those of the others. When he comes to the meeting he seems to do so only for
the sake of uttering whatever words are pent up within him, and thereafter feels
that his job is done. He does not care what prayer burden or consciousness
others present may have. This is the rule of individualism, not the principle of the
body. In point of fact he has not seen the body, and thus he cannot cooperate
with other people before God.
Sometimes three or five, even ten or twenty brethren at a meeting will all speak
only whatever concerns themselves, without showing any interest in the affairs
of the others or listening to the others' thoughts. Or, as the case might be, as
you or others sit with such a person as has been described, he may talk with
animation for an hour or two about his own business; but when you or the
others talk, he does not pay the slightest attention - for if you ask him
afterwards, he evidences the fact that he hardly seems to have heard anything.
In small things such as these, you can tell if a person has truly discerned the
body of Christ.
The plague of individualism can grow from simply expressing one person's
individualism to that of several people. You may notice in the church that three
or five, perhaps even eight or nine persons will sometimes form a small circle.
Only these few are of one mind and love one another. They do not fit in with the
other brothers and sisters. This indicates that they too have not perceived the
body of Christ. The church is one, it cannot be severed. If a person has really
know the body, he cannot endorse any kind of individualism. He cannot form a
party or any small circle.
If you have genuinely experienced the body of Christ you will be conscious of
something wrong whenever you begin to show your individualism, and obviously
you dare not take any action. Or else, when you or several others should make a
wrong move, this body consciousness will cause you to be aware of being
disconnected from the other children of God, thus preventing you from
proceeding further. There is something in you which restrains, speaks, reproves,
warns, or hinders. This consciousness of life can deliver all of us from any taint
of division.
Deliver From Independent Work
If we have body consciousness we will comprehend immediately that the body is

one. Thus, in spiritual work, it cannot be individualistic in its scope. In order to
participate rightly in the Lord's work, it is imperative that we deal with this
matter of independent labor. In the thinking of some people, a person must lay
his own hand on things or else that person will consider those things to be good
for nothing. Whatever is done by him is deemed as having spiritual value; what
is not done by him has no value at all. When he preaches and nobody is saved,
he feels depressed. When he preaches and people are saved, he shows pleasant
surprise. This is because he looks at the work as his own personal labor. But the
moment God's children perceive the oneness of the body, they immediately
comprehend the oneness of the work. They instant they see that the body is
one, they are delivered from their individual endeavor since they now see the
work of the body. This does not imply that a person can no longer labor as an
individual. It simply means that he can no longer consider work as belonging
solely to himself. Whether the work is done by him or not is no problem
anymore, so long as it is done by someone.
As Christians, we should admire and seek for spiritual things, but we ought not
have any emulative pretensions nor any trace of jealousy. Our attitude
individually towards spiritual work should be: What I can do I hope others can
also do; and what I cannot do I wish someone else can do; I would like to do
more as well as I would expect other people to do more. How I need to realize
that I can only be a single vessel in the work; I cannot monopolize it. I dare not
consider the work and its result as altogether mine. If I insist that everything
must be done by me, I have not apprehended the body. The moment I
apprehend the body, immediately I realize that both my labor and that of others
mean gain to the head as well as to the body. And let all glory be to the Lord
and all blessing be to the church.
The Lord distributes His work to all, and everyone has his share. We must not
think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think. We should be faithful to
the portion which the Lord has given each of us; but we should also respect the
portion He gives to others. Many young people possess a kind of competitive
attitude in which they are always comparing what they have with that which
others do not have and what they do not have with that which others have.
Actually, such comparison is absurd. How can we add a chair to a table? Are they
one or two? A table plus a chair equals a table and a chair. If we are asked
which is better, the hand or the eye, we can only answer that the hand and the
eye are both good. He who has seen the body recognizes the functions of all the
members. He looks at himself as only one among many members. He will not
project himself to a distinctive position in order to compare himself favorably
with others or even to occupy another's place.
As soon as a Christian inwardly discerns the body of Christ he has no way or

justification to be either proud or jealous. Since the body is one, it makes no
difference whether the work is done by him or by others. Whether by him or by
other people, all glory goes to the Lord and all blessings flow to the church. If
anyone sees the body of Christ, there will naturally be within him this
consciousness: that the body is one, and therefore the work is one.
See the Need for Fellowship
He who sees the body of Christ most spontaneously sees not only the stupidity
of independent action but the need for fellowship as well. Fellowship is not an
external exercise in social intercourse; it is the spontaneous demand of body life.
What is erroneously but commonly assumed to be fellowship by God's children is
a visiting of homes of some brothers and sisters at times of leisure and chit-
chatting with them a while. In actuality, fellowship means realizing the total
inadequacy of my own self. I am desirous of doing all things with the other
members of the body. Although for doing many things I am not able to gather all
the brothers and sisters in the church, I still can do them with two or three
brothers and/or sisters according to the principle of the body.
Oftentimes we need to learn fellowship in prayer, to learn fellowship in

difficulties, to learn fellowship in seeking God's will, to learn fellowship
concerning our future, and to learn fellowship regarding God's word. What
fellowship means is that, knowing that I am inadequate in the matter of prayer, I
seek out two or three others to pray with me. I by myself am incompetent in
solving difficulties, hence I ask two or three brethren to deal with the situations
together with me. Alone I am unable to know God's will, therefore I solicit the
help of two or three others. I in myself am rather confused as to my future,
consequently I request two or three brothers and sisters to fellowship and decide
with me what my future should be. I cannot understand God's word alone, so
now I study the word of God with two or three brothers and sisters who have
spiritual discernment to help me (and not just ask those to help me who are
affectionate towards me). I am inadequate, and hence I need the help of other
brethren.
The body of Christ is a life, and there is therefore also a consciousness involved.
You yourself will become conscious or aware of the fact that without fellowship
you cannot live.
Learn to Be a Member
If a person has body consciousness he at once recognizes his place in the body;
that is to day, he sees himself as being one of its members. Each member has
his distinctive usefulness. A member of a physical body is different from a body
cell. Lacking a cell does not matter much, but the lack of a member in a body is
unthinkable. Of course, a cell has its use, but please note that the Bible in its use
of the analogy of the human body says that we are members of the body of
Christ, not cells. How pitiful that the conditions of many Christians are like those
of cells in the human body instead of members. Such a person seems to have no
specific use in the body of Christ, neither does he fulfill his part. In any given
church meeting his presence does not appear to add anything to the body of
Christ, and his absence does not give the appearance to the body that it is
lacking in anything. He has not discharged his function in the body because he
has never seen the body. When he is with brothers and sisters he never knows
his ministry, neither does he even realize what he should do. Were he to
perceive the body he could not help but see himself as a member. Were he to
perceive the body, he would know that it will suffer loss if he does not supply life
to it.
No one can be passive in a meeting. Each person is a member of the body, and
consequently no one can come to a meeting as a passive spectator. As we
gather together we pray because we realize we are mutual members of the body
of Christ. Whether uttered or unuttered, we nonetheless pray, for we want to
supply life to the body.
Some Christians are life-supplying members. When they attend a meeting, even
if they do not open their mouths, their very presence lifts the meeting; for they
are there supplying life, they are there swallowing up death. Once anyone
discerns the body of Christ, he cannot fail to recognize himself as a member of
the body.
Because we are members of the body of Christ and members each in its part, we
must seek how to help the body in gaining life and strength. In any gathering,
even if we do not open our mouths, we may pray silently. Even though we may
not speak, we can still look to God. This is body consciousness. If we have seen
the body, we cannot say we are a person of no consequence. We will rather say:
I am a member of the body, and hence I have a duty to perform. I have a wo0rd
which I should speak, I have a prayer which I should utter. When I come to the
meeting I must do whatever God wants me to do. I cannot afford to be a
spectator. Such things as these are what we will say or do if we truly apprehend
the body. And as we all function, the life of the entire gathering will swallow up
all death. Many meetings fail to exhibit such power to overcome death for there
are too many spectators.
Submit to Authority
If you really see the body of Christ you are conscious of the loveliness of God's
children, of the error of division, of the need for fellowship, and of the
responsibility in you as a member of the body of Christ. All these facets of
awareness are because of body consciousness. Moreover, as you are aware that
you are in the body, you must become equally aware that you are under the
authority of the Head. For whoever knows the life of the body of Christ and is
conscious of being a body member will invariable sense the authority of the
Head, who is Christ Jesus the Lord.
We must not only submit to the direct authority of the Head, we need also to
submit to the indirect authority of the Head. My physical hand is under the direct
authority of the head of my body, but when my arm moves, my hand moves
together with my arm - for my hand submits to the head through the arm.
Consequently, whoever sees the body of Christ sees also the authority which God
has set in the body of Christ for him to submit to.
Sometimes when you are told by someone in the church to do a certain thing,
you do not sense it is the Lord's will for you after you have prayed about it. And
so you do not do it, and you feel happy. You know it is right for you to listen to
the Lord's word rather than to man's word. On the other hand, is there an
instance when you become aware that if you do not listen to your brother or
sister you come into conflict with the Lord? Is there one time, or even a number
of times, wherein you have the sense that one or more of the brethren who
know the Lord have been placed by Him in the position of representing His
authority and that if you enter into controversy with them you are in controversy
with the Lord? If you truly perceive the authority of the Head, you will also
perceive that one or more members of the body are ahead of you, and that to
them you must learn to submit. Hence you recognize not only the Head but also
those whom God has set in the body to represent the Head. If you are at odds
with them, you will also be at odds with God.
If our eyes have been opened by the Lord to recognize the body, we will also
recognize authority. When we behold the human body, why is it that all parts
work so harmoniously as to reveal the fact that the entire body is one? This is
because there is authority in the body. If there is no authority the entire body
will be thrown into confusion. Suppose, for example, that the stomach is hungry
for food, but that the mouth refuses to eat; what will happen to that man? The
entire body will suffer if but one of its parts refuses to obey its authority. Or
again, take the example of cancer, which we know is a most serious disease.
How does cancer arise in the body? It is due to a few cells which develop
themselves independently and not according to the law of the body. The body
does not require them to develop in such a way, yet they insist on growing
abnormally. They absorb many useful nutrients by which to supply their own
growth. They only mind their own development: they do not care if the body
does not need such growth: they do not obey the authority of the body but act
independently on their own. Now the larger they grow, the more damage the
body incurs. With the result that a few insubordinate cells may cause death to
the entire body.
It is clear from the above observations that authority is the law of the human
body, and insubordination to it is symptomatic of disease in the body. Equally
true will this be in the spiritual body of Christ. If a person does not know what
authority is, how can he say he knows the body of Christ? Let us see that the
one who knows the body can discern - even when only three or five people are
assembled together - who among those assembled is his authority; because
there is manifested in their midst the authority of the Head to which he needs to
submit. How natural and how beautiful it is in the human body for the fingers to
submit to the wrist, the wrist to the arm, the arm to the shoulder, and so on.
And this same beauty can be displayed in the body of Christ.
Certain Christians are so careless in action as well as in speech that they will not
listen to anyone. They seem to regard themselves as being the greatest to such
an extent that they fail to recognize anyone to whom they could submit. This
proves that such believers have never known the restraint of the body nor have
ever submitted to the authority of the Head. May God have mercy on such
members. If we have genuinely been dealt with by the Lord and if our flesh has
received such dealings as to have had the backbone of the natural life broken,
we will immediately acknowledge how neither our hands nor our mouth have
unlimited freedom - since all are under the control of the body - and how we
cannot fail to submit ourselves to the authority which God has set in the body of
Christ.
May we not remain merely in the realm of teaching on this matter, but be truly
led of God to know and to experience the body of Christ. May this body
consciousness in its many facets always follow us so that we have no way to do
anything according to our own will, or to live carelessly through our days. Thus
shall we receive rich supply through this body, and we will be able to manifest
the testimony of the Lord.
3. Hold Fast the Head
And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him to
be Head over all things to the church. (Eph. 1:22)
But speaking truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him, who
is the Head, even Christ; from whom all the body fitly framed and
knit together through that which every joint supplies, according to
the effective working by which every part does its share, causes
growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. (Eph. 4:15-16)
And not holding fast the Head, from whom all the body, being
supplied and knit together through the joints and bands, increases
with the increase of God. (Col. 2:19)
One
In order to make Christ the Head of all things, God first made Him the Head of
the church. After being made the Head of the church, Christ will later have His
authority extended to be Head over all things. His future position in the universe
is closely related to His place today in the church. For Christ to be Head over all
things, God wants Him first to be such among His children - that is, in the church
which is His body. How exceedingly important a subject is this matter.
Christ being the Head of the church and the church being the body of Christ, the
whole body is thus summed up in the Head. If our human body is separated
from the head, that automatically means death to our body. All the movements
of a person are governed by the head. Whenever the head is wounded and
thereby loses its effectiveness, the activities of the body stop and the body ends
in death; for the head is the central control of the life of the body. Now the word
of God declares that he who has the Son of God has life (1 Jn. 5:12). A Christian
receives life from the Lord Jesus, who is the Son of God; yet this life never
leaves the Lord. He who has the Son has life, but this life, says God's word, is in
the Son (1 Jn. 5:11), and not even for a moment has this life left the Son.
Hence, apart from the Lord Jesus we just cannot live.
Let us understand that God has not apportioned to us a small amount of Christ
so that we may take that portion and go away. No, God has given the total
Christ to us and has joined us intimately with His Son. All the power of our
existence rests in Christ. In the event we lose communication with the Lord
because we have departed from Him, we instantly become lifeless. Thus, though
a Christian receives life from Christ, it remains in the Lord. We have received life,
yet this life and the head are inseparable. Upon our accepting Him, we still must
live in Him. Though we have received Him, we are yet to depend on Him.
Accordingly, we cannot be independent in anything. The Lord alone is head, and
He is the sole resource of our life.
Two
Christ is the life of the body; He also is its authority as the Head. Because life is
in Him, authority too is in Him. He is our life, therefore He has authority; and
when we obey His authority, we have life. Hence if we see what is the body of
Christ, we cannot avoid accepting the control of the Head, since a body with its
members is not able to move at will but does so only at the order of the head. If
there is no command from the head there is no movement in the body. No
member of the body can take its own initiative, but must be governed by the
head. Where life is, there is authority. True authority is life. And since the Lord
controls our life, He has authority over us.
Anyone who confesses with his mouth that he knows body life ought to ask
himself if he has subjected himself to the Lord's authority. Whether or not he is
in subjection to the authority of the Head proves whether or not he really knows
the life of the body. The attitude of some people to the word of God is: "This is
what the Lord has indeed said, but I think..." Who allows any of us to say "But"?
Who gives us such an authority to say "But"? In the world, if anyone does not
follow the order of his superior he is deemed an insubordinate person. Since
Christ is the Head and we are not, we have no right not to obey the Lord.
What is meant by "follow"? To follow signifies that the way I tread and the place
where I go are all decided by someone else. We are following the Lord; therefore
we have no authority to decide our own path. The body in its relation to the
Head can only obey and follow. If we wish to live out the life of the body of
Christ we must cover our own head; that is to say, we must not have our
personal opinion, egoistic will or selfish thought. We can only obey the Lord and
let Him be the Head. The Lord alone is in that position; nobody else can be. I
cannot be the head, neither can anyone else in the church be, for the body has
only one head and is in subjection to that Head, which is Christ. We all must
therefore obey Him.
Unfortunately, there appears to be in the church too many heads, too many
human leaders, too many men's ways and regulations. Too often man aspires to
be the authority. While Christ is Head in heaven, man wants to be head on earth.
When the thought of the earthly head happens to agree with that of the
heavenly One, we obey Christ. But when the earthly head disagrees with the
heavenly One, we disobey Christ. How wrong is this entire system!
Have you ever said to the Lord: "O Lord, You are my Head. I have no right to
decide anything, nor have I authority to make any choice of my own. May You
deliver me from trying to be head as well as deliver me from other people who
set themselves up as head." Each one of us needs to learn how to accept the
command of God: Christ is Head, and therefore no one can follow his own will.
To be subdued by the Lord and then to capitulate to Him should be a basic
experience of every Christian.
We learn from Acts 2 that when Peter proclaimed the gospel he said this: "God
has made Him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified" (Acts 2:36).
He opened his mouth and declared that Christ is Lord. Christ is not only Savior,
He is firstly Lord: we need Him to be Lord to us. And because we have sinned,
He must also be our Savior.
Take a look at the experience of Paul at his conversion. While he was on the way
to Damascus the Lord shone around him,. And then he asked: "Who are You,
Lord?" (Acts 9:5) Paul first saw Jesus as Lord before he believed on Him as
Savior. Oh how we all must come to the place where we can honestly say: "O
Lord, I am finished. Henceforth, it is You who directs me, because You are the
Lord."
Three
Let us realize that we all must hold fast the Head. To do this means to
acknowledge that Christ alone is Head. It means absolute obedience to His
authority. "My grow up in all things into Him, who is the Head, even Christ; from
whom all the body fitly framed and knit together through that which every joint
supplies, according to the working in due measure of each several part, makes
the increase of the body unto the building up of itself in love" (Eph. 4:15,16).
From this passage we learn that the members of the body of Christ are fitly
framed and knit together because all hold fast the head and live out the life of
the body. This does not suggest that God wants you to pay attention only to the
one who sits next to you, but that He preeminently wants you to have a proper
relationship with the Lord. If you maintain such a relationship with the Head you
will have a good relationship with other body members. All matters between you
and your brothers and sisters may be easily solved if you can submit yourself to
the Head. If you have no controversy with the Lord you will have no problem
with any brother or sister.
Whether or not you can successfully live out the life of the body rests on your
relationship with the Head. Let us see that we did not become Christians because
we found other Christians agreeable, nor are we successful as believers because
we have mastered some kind of Christian technique. We became Christians
because we know Christ. And the way we continue to live successfully as
Christians is the way we were born as Christians. We were so born by having a
relationship with the Head, and we continue as Christians by maintaining a
proper relationship with the Head - who is Christ the Lord.
This is not to insinuate that Christians do not need to have fellowship with one
another; no, it simply affirms that the fellowship among believers is based on
their relationship to Christ. We need to fellowship with one another because the
Christ who dwells in me and the Christ who dwells in you are inseparable. The
Christ who indwells me is not a fragmentary, but a whole, Christ. Christ in you
and Christ in me - this is the Christ that is the basis of our fellowship. Aside from
Him we have nothing with which to fellowship. Even though the education we
each receive and the environment and natural talent we individually have are all
different, there is still one thing common to all of us, which is the indwelling
Christ. Since the Christ in us is the same, we can fellowship with one another.
Not because a certain person has ability or good temper or is gentle or
considerate do you have fellowship with that one. Not at all. If your fellowship is
based on people, you are not holding fast the Head - but on the contrary, your
fellowship will be according to the kind of communication which Absalom had
with the people of Israel. Such fellowship separated the people from David (see
2 Sam. 15:1-17). And similar conduct today would not constitute a holding fast
the Head.
The fellowship between Christians ought to be that which is related to Christ. We

have no basis for fellowship outside of the Head. Our fellowship is both normal
and profitable if all of us hold fast the Head. Otherwise, fellowship will be
marred. How far will you go as a Christian? Will you follow the Lord to the end?
If someone draws back and falls away, will not your fellowship with him be
affected? All of us must follow the Lord the entire way in order to maintain full
fellowship, which only the mutual holding fast of the Head can accomplish.
Four
What are the conditions for holding fast the Head? On the one hand we must let
the cross deal deeply with the flesh and its natural life and on the other hand we
need to learn to walk according to the Spirit. Thus shall we enjoy a wholesome
body fellowship. Without the dealing of the natural life by the cross we cannot
live out the body life.
The book of Revelation reveals a company of people who follow the Lamb
wheresoever He goes (see Rev. 14:1-5). Can we say we follow the Lamb
anywhere He goes? Let us never forget that the cross is the instrument of
fellowship. It deals with our flesh, it breaks down our self-life so that we may
follow the Lamb wherever He leads. If we have no hindrance before the Lord, we
will present no obstruction to the church. If our relationship with the Head is
proper, our relationship with the body will also be proper. For let us clearly
understand that every member has a direct relationship with the Head. In the
physical body, for example, if the left hand should be hurt, it will be the head
which order the right hand to help. The right hand makes no direct move by
itself. So is it with the body of Christ. The inter-relatedness of its members
comes in every instance through the Head. When one member goes to help a
brother, if he holds fast the Head it is for the Lord's sake and not for the sake of
mere human friendship. By holding fast the Head we will be spared from
maintaining a direct relationship with anyone, and thus we will not harbor any
special affinity towards a few. To do otherwise will bring in division or party
spirit.
Now God does not permit division or party in the church. What is party? A party
is formed when a few Christians establish direct intercourse among themselves
through the technique of bypassing the Head. They maintain a special affinity
towards each other which does not originate with the Head. This is party. Yet
what is even worse than a party is a sect. Some people are so close and so
naturally attracted to one another that the form a sectarian group. But if
brethren will hold fast the Head their hearts will be as large as that of the Head.
Brethren should indeed love one another; yet this mutual love has a foundation
which belongs to the entire body of Christ. Loving one another must encompass
all members in the body. That which falls short of the boundary of the body is
not permitted by God. Only by holding fast the Head can Christians love one
another without falling into parties and sects.
4. The Service of the Member
For even as we have many members in one body, and all the
members have not the same office [function]: so we, who are
many, are one body in Christ, and severally members one of
another. (Rom. 12:4,5)
One
How many of us who are Christians know that we are not only believers but also
members of the body of Christ? We ought to understand that in the Adamic life
there is not just the sinful or the natural which needs to be dealt with, the
individualistic temper must also be dealt with. What do we mean by the
individualistic character in the Adamic life? It is that attitude of life which insists
on maintaining my independent existence, my independent living, or my
individual action as though I were the only one living in the world. This kind of
life hinders us from entering into the reality of the body of Christ. We should
know that the antithesis of the body is the individual. For us to enter into the
reality of the body, we must be delivered from individualism.
The body of Christ is not just a teaching. The body of Christ needs to be entered
into experientially. Whoever has not entered in does not know what is within. He
who is saved can easily detect whoever is saved or not; in like manner, the one
who has already entered into the reality of the body of Christ may also discern
quickly whether others have entered into the reality of it or not. When you are
saved you have not only heard the doctrine of salvation but also seen that Christ
is the living life. In salvation you enter a new realm. And after being in this new
realm you are able to discern clearly the situation of the unsaved in retrospect.
Similarly, those who truly live in the body of Christ may vividly perceive the
conditions of all who have not lived in the body. People may understand the
book of Romans and not be saved; likewise, men may appreciate the letter of
Ephesians and not know the body of Christ. When you forsake sin and enter into
Christ, you are saved. But you need to be delivered from being individualistic in
order to enter experientially into the body of Christ.
God permits us to be individuals, but He does not allow us to be individualistic.

Before we enter experientially into the body of Christ we are full of individualism.
Even our spiritual pursuit is inspired by this trait. Why seek for holiness? That I
myself may be holy. Why desire for power? That I personally may have power.
Why look for fruits of labor? That I individually may have fruits. Why wish for the
kingdom? That I myself may possess the kingdom. Everything is bound up with
"I." This is not the body; this is individualism.
Just as Peter at Pentecost had saved in one day three thousand people, so I
dream of saving three thousand in one day that I too may produce many fruits.
Yet we need to recall that the eleven other apostles stood up with Peter. Did the
other apostles ever jealously complain, saying that if Peter could save many
people, they too should be able to do the same? Or did Peter ever build up in his
mind a high tower of boasting, saying that he could save people whom others
could not? We know that no such thing ever happened. For God does not look
for an individual vessel but is out to get a corporate one. If you truly see the
body of Christ you will neither be jealous nor proud. Whether the work is done
by you or by me or by others makes no difference. All of this is a body matter,
nothing is purely individual.
We therefore need to see ourselves not only as believer but even more so as
members. I am a member; hence I am not the whole - not even the half - but
only a small part of Christ's body. It is unquestionably a tremendous deliverance
to see the body and to recognize oneself as only a member. Formerly many
things were centered on our individual selves. Whether it was work or living, all
was highly individualistic. One day when we discerned the body we were
naturally delivered from individualism. In salvation we first see Christ and then
we are saved. By the same token, we first see the body and then quite naturally
we are delivered from individualism and become members of the body in reality.
Not in the sense that we outwardly say we will act according to the principle of
the body when we are faced with a situation, but in the sense of acting
according to the principle of the body because we have received the revelation
and have entered experientially into the body of Christ. With the natural life
being dealt with, we spontaneously perceive that we are members.
How do I live as a member of the body of Christ? The body must be taken as the
unit and boundary of all my works and living. In the physical realm, when my
hand works, it is not my hand but my body which works; when my feet walk, it is
not my feet but my body which walks. A physical member never does anything
for its own self; whatever it does is for the sake of the body. So too is this true in
the spiritual realm. All the actions of a member of the body of Christ are
governed by the body of Christ, not by the individual member himself. Whether
God puts me in first or in last place, it is equally acceptable with me. For only the
one who does not see, know, and experience the body of Christ will be proud or
jealous.
We must realize the relationship which exists between the member and the
body. A member cannot be a substitute for the entire body, yet it can affect the
whole body. Personal defeat and personal unholiness will influence it. Secret
failure of an individual may not be known by men, but the devil knows it. Hidden
defeat of a single person may not be perceived by others, yet the evil spirits
know it. The defeat of one member touches the whole church. For this reason,
we must seek after a life of life: it is for the entire body. We must pursue after a
holy life: for this also is for the body's sake. We must desire spiritual progress:
but it too is for the sake of the body.
Let us seriously ask ourselves: Am I an independent individualist? Or am I a

member of the body? Am I just a believer? Or am I also a member? You are
without doubt a Christian, but if you cannot be with other people for five minutes
without having some trouble or finding yourself incompatible with others, how
can you demonstrate that you live as a member? The Lord will not be satisfied
with such kind of living. May God give us light that we may clearly perceive the
body of Christ. And having perceived it, we will naturally be delivered from
individualism and will spontaneously live as members.
Two
Each member has his part in serving the body of Christ. Everyone who belongs
to the Lord has his portion. He has Christ within, and what he has in Christ has a
characteristic of its own. It is this characteristic which becomes the distinctive
feature of that one's service. To serve the church is to serve with what one
obtains in Christ.
The portion of service which we have in the body of Christ is based on our
knowledge of Him. Yet this is not a common knowledge, because a common
knowledge of Christ is inadequate. Only a specific knowledge of Him will
constitute a specific ministry in serving the body of Christ. Hence specific service
is based on specific knowledge of the Lord. Having learned what others have not
learned, you receive from the Lord a specific lesson, and with this specific
knowledge of Him you may serve. In the human body, for example, the eyes can
see, the ears can hear, and the nose can smell. They all have their own
functions, and thus each has its own portion. Similarly with the members of the
body of Christ. Not every member can see or hear or smell; but each member
has his own special ability. This, then, is that member's ministry.
What is your specific ministry? That which you learn especially from the Lord,
that which you specifically receive from Him. Only specific ministry can serve the
church and cause the latter to increase. Only what comes from above is able to
make for the increase of the body. Whatever you have learned before the Lord is
what you may transmit of the life of the Head to the body and what you may
supply to the church which she does not already have. Hence each member
needs to seek earnestly from the Lord what the church has never possessed so
as to transmit this to the body of Christ. Today the Lord is looking for those
people in whom life is given and by whom the work of the increase of the life of
the body might be done. They are used to supply life to the church which she
has never known before, to increase the measure of the stature of the Lord, and
to be the channel of the life to the body. From them the life which they receive
from the Lord flows into the church, thus causing the increase of the stature of
the body of Christ.
To serve the body of Christ means to supply to it the life which a member
receives from the Head; that is to say, he supplies the life of the Head to the
church. When the eyes of a seeing member see, the entire body is able to see.
In other words, that member of the body of Christ who has insight into spiritual
things becomes the eyes of the body so as to supply seeing to the body. Hands
cannot by the sense of touch discern the odor of a thing; but the nose can; it
serves the body with its ability to smell. And thus smelling becomes the specific
ministry of the nose to the body. Ears, too, serve the body, but with hearing. So
hearing is the specific ministry of that member of the body of Christ who can
serve as the body's ears. And such can be called the service of the member. And
the result of the operation of each such service will be to increase the strength of
the body, causing the latter to gain more of Christ. Hence the service or ministry
of the member is to serve the church with Christ, thus imparting Christ to others.
The service to the body of Christ is based on knowledge of Christ; and this
knowledge comes from life experience, not from doctrine. Man often substitutes
life with doctrine or teaching. This is a big mistake, since doctrine is of no avail in
itself. People may hear a teaching till they can recite it or even speak on it, yet
their understanding is not opened because they do not really see. People are not
helped simply because they know teaching. Knowing the teaching at most only
adds more thoughts to the mind. God wants to demonstrate a doctrine with life.
He therefore first gives life and then the doctrine. This is true from the Old
Testament to the New. For instance, God obtained the man Abraham to be the
father of faith. Everyone who beholds the life of Abraham can see the doctrine of
faith. Or as another example, Abel realized that without the blood no one could
approach God. And hence Abel's life represents the teaching of being justified by
the blood of Christ (see Rom. 5:9).
In the New Testament, we find the same thing. Please note that the Gospels
precede the Epistles. The Gospels first relate what Christ has done, and only
then do the later Epistles explain what actually has transpired. First the
experience of Christ, then the doctrine of Christ. First the life of Christ, then the
teaching of Christ.
First life, then doctrine. First a problem, then the solution. First an experience,
then the teaching. Martin Luther went through much suffering and hardship, yet
he did not obtain justification. Not until one day God showed him that
justification is by faith. Only by faith was he finally justified; and thereafter he
presented the teaching of justification by faith. First the life, then the applicable
doctrine.
Let us not spend too much time in examining, analyzing, and researching a
doctrine. All these are like reeds which will not support you when encountering
real life difficulties. It is God who carries you through. First experience, then the
doctrine.
If a person does not have a special experiential knowledge of Christ, that person
does not have a ministry. It is through receiving in life something particular from
Him that a ministry is formed. The characteristic of a member is the ministry or
service of that member. The hand, for instance, has its particular characteristic,
hence the latter becomes its ministry to the body. All sufferings, all disciplines,
and all trials are used by God to incorporate His word in us that we may have
something with which to supply the church. Apart from Christ, aside from life,
there is nothing of service to the body of Christ. Christ is life: it is with Him that
we supply the church for its building up. The one who has no life brings death to
a meeting even if that one only says an amen in a prayer meeting. But the one
who has life is able to supply life to the prayer meeting even if that one merely
says an amen. Sitting with a person with life will cause people to sense the life in
him. The measure of one's knowledge of Christ is the measure with which a
member can supply the church with life.
Today God is seeking for people in whom He can deposit an abundant portion of
the life of Christ so that they may supply others. Life needs a channel. And God
wants man to be that channel of life. He will use man to transmit the life to the
body of Christ. If life stops in you or me, we will not be able to supply life to
others and the church will suffer loss. For instead of supplying life we will spread
death in the church. There is never a personal defeat which does not adversely
affect the church. As a consequence, in the body of Christ, when one member
suffers all the members suffer with that member. Even if a member is defeated
in his room, such as in the matter of neglecting prayer, the body will surely
suffer. Every member may influence others. Hence let us not live to ourselves.
Let us hold fast the Head and seek fellowship. Before we make certain decisions
let us have fellowship. All is in, through, and for the body - not in, through, or for
the individual. May God cause us to see the body. May He also use our ministry
to serve the church according to our real knowledge of Christ.
5. The Function and Harmony of the Members
For even as we have many members in one body, and all the
members have not the same office [function]: so we, who are
many, are one body in Christ, and severally members one of
another. (Rom. 12:4,5)
For the perfecting of the saints, unto the work of ministering, unto
the building up of the body of Christ: till we all attain unto the unity
of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a
fullgrown man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of
Christ. (Eph. 4:12,13)
But speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him,
who is the Head, even Christ; from whom all the body fitly framed
and knit together through that which every joint supplies,
according to the working in due measure of each several part,
makes the increase of the body unto the building up of itself in
love. (Eph. 4:15,16)
The Function of the Members
To the one who lives for the Lord and is delivered from self, the most important
part of his external life is that he might manifest his function in the church. Most
certain is it that each member in the body of Christ has his place. If you as a
member fail to express your function, it only proves that outwardly you have not
lived for the Lord nor inwardly have you been delivered from yourself. Had you
truly been delivered from your own self, you would have spontaneously exhibited
your particular office in the church. You as a brother or you as a sister each have
a measure or portion of a particular function in the church. However much you
may feel you have been delivered from your self and are living for the Lord, your
feeling is not only inaccurate but also a deception if you cannot manifest your
function as a member in the church. If in fact you have been delivered from
yourself and truly are living for the Lord, one thing in your life will be most
certain, which is, that you will automatically manifest in the body that portion of
a special function or office which you have as a brother or a sister.
Never for a moment think that because the grace you have received is so
insignificant you therefore have no place in the church. As long as you are a
member, you have a definite function. There is no one having the life of God
who is not a member of the body of Christ, and no member is so small as to
have no function of his own. The less than the least of the members still has his
function in the body, and that particular function cannot be replaced by any
other member. No matter how tiny is that function, no one else can substitute it.
Not even the greatest function in the body can stand in for the smallest one:
none can take the place of the other: you cannot be a substitute for me, nor can
I be a substitute for you. Oh, if we could see this we would leap for joy!
In this connection, please notice that the Gospels of the New Testament are
written by four different persons. When you read the Gospel according to
Matthew, you see one aspect of Christ; in reading the Gospel according to Mark,
you discern another side of Christ; in reading the Gospel according to Luke, still
another aspect of the holiness of Christ is in view; and reading the Gospel
according to John, yet another facet of the glory of Christ is seen. Moreover, if
you read Peter's epistles, there is given still another presentation of Christ; and
in perusing the epistles of John, you must confess that his description of the
glorious beauty of Christ excels anything that has ever been written. From all this
it must be concluded that our Lord is so great that it requires believers of all
ages and from all nations to express Him. Do please understand that the outflow
of life is the expression of Christ; and the body of Christ is where this life is
manifested in all of its varied beauty and glory through the body's members.
Life, we must see, is a unit whole, but it is expressed by means of various offices
or functions as it is manifested through different members. When this life of
Christ flows to the earts, there is hearing; when it flows to the eyes, there is
seeing; when it flows to the feet, there is walking; when it flows to the mouth,
there is speaking; and when it flows to the teeth, there is chewing. This life is
indeed one, yet the functions are many; and though of many functions, they are
still from the one life. That which flows into you and into me is the same life of
Christ, but the functions operative in you and in me are different.
Frequently, what one brother can do, no one else can do it in quite the same
way. With respect to a certain matter in the church, you must seek out a certain
brother; whereas with respect to another matter, you must seek out a particular
sister. But just you change the brother or the sister and the result will be that
that matter will not be done. As a particular member in the body, you have your
specific office. And the office which is operative in you as the life of Christ flows
into you is something which no other person can be a substitute for. Regardless
of how small you as a member are, you have your place
Brethren may test themselves in this matter quite simply: If today in a local
assembly you have yet to manifest your function - and not because of the
smallness of your function but because your presence or absence in the church
seems rather optional - then this is sufficient proof that neither outwardly do you
live for the Lord nor inwardly is your life delivered from self. This is a very
concrete test.
Satan's Work of Disintegration
We ought to know that in order to spread His gospel, do His work, and fulfill His
will on earth, the Lord must use His body. Neither His will nor His way can be
realized through one person, since the Lord does not work through one man but
through the church. The vessel God will use is the church, not an individual. The
life and power of Christ find their richest manifestation through the body of
Christ. For this reason, Satan takes great pains to try to effect the
"disintegration" of the body of Christ. This becomes his number one task. If we
take note of this, we will readily realize how severe is this Satanic work of
"disintegration"; suspicion arises among brothers and sisters, misunderstanding
is easily created. This is Satan doing his disintegrating work. One of us is blaming
a brother, and the latter is murmuring against a sister. Yet if the cause is
investigated, there is nothing serious about it at all. This too is Satan performing
his work of tearing down the body. Satan introduces God's children to divide; he
cause them to disintegrate as a body. The work of God is to make us one body,
but the work of Satan is to cause us to be torn asunder. Satan uses our
corrupted flesh, our stubborn self, and the world which we covet to carry out his
work of destruction. Hence actually the serious problem here does not lie in our
not having the flesh dealt with, nor in our not laying down ourselves, neither in
our living according to the world - but it rests upon the fact that it is Satan who
will use these weaknesses of ours to do the work of tearing and dividing. If these
elements are permitted to remain in our lives, we clearly make room for Satan to
work his work of disintegration.
What, in truth, is our understanding of oneness? Quite simply, oneness is God

Himself. Why is this so? Because when all of us set aside the things outside of
God and begin to live in Him, then God who is in us becomes the oneness.
Oneness is when God has His absolute place in us. Oneness is when He alone is
in all, when He fills all. When the children of God are filled with God, they
harmonize with one another. As a matter of fact, Satan, in his attempt to effect
the disintegration of us as a body, does not need to stir up opinions and strife
among us so long as he is able to plant some impurity in us or something else
which takes the place of God. As an illustration of this, have you ever noticed
how people mix concrete? If there is some clay blended with the sand, the
cement will not firmly congeal. Now for Satan to destroy our oneness in the
body, he needs to no nothing but spread a little mud - that which is incompatible
with the life of God in us - and we as a body shall disintegrate. Neither opinions
nor strifes are necessary, merely the spreading of a little mud in us is enough.
We continue to break bread and drink the cup, but we may be divided
nonetheless.
The body of Christ is basically not a doctrine, neither is it a kind of arrangement,

but it essentially is life. What is the church? The church is not just a doctrine
according to the Scriptures; neither is it just a method according to the
Scriptures; but basically it is a life, even the manifestation of the life in Christ.
Oneness is not grounded in anything else but in life. Satan needs only to mix
some impurities into us and into others secretly; so that though among us all
there is not the slightest clamor of opinions or the slightest indication of strife,
nevertheless, unknowingly the body is already undergoing disintegration. May
the Lord have mercy on us by the filtering out of all impurities from us. O Lord,
by the cross and the Holy Spirit, do filter us out!
How we all need to inquire as to what place does our own inclination and desires
have in us: What place does our own goal have in us? Or do we let the life of
Christ occupy the absolute position in us? Oh how we all need to return to God!
We do not need outward revival. We have but one need, which is, to turn
inwardly to God and let Him cleanse us and purify us with the cross and the Holy
Spirit. By the filtering of the cross and the Holy Spirit, we hope and pray we may
be cleansed from all the impurities which Satan has mixed into us. May the Lord
have mercy upon us so that we may not put our confidence in ourselves, for
even that sense in us of being right may be used by Satan to work the work of
disintegration. We should learn to come to God for enlightening, we should learn
to go among brothers and sisters for correction. We must be willing to pay any
cost and accept the dealing of the cross in order that we may truly manifest our
functions as members in the church.
Do we not continually say we love the Lord? Do we not say we have consecrated
ourselves to Him? Then we must not preserve ourselves, neither should we be
afraid of paying any cost; but we should allow the Lord to cleanse us from all the
impurities which are incompatible so that the life of Christ may be expressed
through us and that we may manifest in our life our various functions as body
members as well as live out the testimony of body of Christ.
6. Obeying the Law of the body of Christ
They therefore that were scattered abroad went about preaching

the word. And Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and
proclaimed unto them the Christ. And the multitudes gave heed
with one accord unto the things that were spoken by Philip, when
they heard, and saw the signs which he did. For from many of
these that had unclean spirits, they came out, crying with a loud
voice: and many that were palsied, and that were lame, were
healed. And there was much joy in that city. (Acts 8:4-8)
But when they believed Philip preaching good tidings concerning

the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were
baptized, both men and women. (Acts 8:12)
Now when the apostles that were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria
had received the world of God, they sent unto them Peter and
John: who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that
they might receive the Holy Spirit: for as yet it was fallen upon
none of them: only they had been baptized into the name of the
Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands on them, and they received
the Holy Spirit. (Acts 8:14-17)
Lay hands hastily on no man, neither be partaker of other men's

sins: keep yourself pure. (1 Tim. 5:22)
Neglect not the gift that is in you, which was given you by
prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery. (1
Tim. 4:14)
For which cause I put you in remembrance that you stir up the gift
of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. (2 Tim.
1:6)
Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the
church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the
name of the Lord: and the prayer of faith shall raise him up; and if
he has committed sins, it shall be forgiven him. Confess therefore
your sins one to another, and pray one for another, that you may
be healed. The supplication of a righteous man avails much in its
working. (Jas. 5:14-16)
And as he journeyed, it came to pass that he drew near to

Damascus: and suddenly there shone round about him a light out
of heaven: and he fell upon the earth, and heard a voice saying to
him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? And he said, Who are
You, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom you are persecuting: but
rise and enter into the city, and it shall be told you what you must
do... But the Lord said unto him [Ananias], Go your way: for he is
My chosen vessel, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings,
and the children of Israel: for I will show him how many things he
must suffer for My name's sake. And Ananias departed, and
entered into the house; and laying his hands on him said, Brother
Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, who appeared unto you in the which
you came, has sent me, that you may receive your sight, and be
filled with the Holy Spirit. (Acts 9:3-17)
And if your brother sin against you, go, show him his fault between
you and him alone: if he hears you, you have gained your brother.
But if he hear you not, take with you one or two more, that at the
mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.
And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church: and if he
refuses to hear the church also, let him be unto you as the Gentile
and the publican. (Mt. 18:15-17)
If we wish to live the life of the body of Christ, we must first receive the
revelation of the body of Christ. Without such revelation we will never cease to
move individualistically. Some people deem the seeing of the body of Christ as
not a surprising thing at all, but let us realize that we cannot speak empty words.
For if anyone has really apprehended the body of Christ he must readily
acknowledge that it has its own inherent law according to which he must live
continually. Anyone who has seen Christ will not trust in his good deeds for
salvation. By the same token, a person who says he has seen the body of Christ
and yet continually acts independently by not holding fast the Head has never
received the revelation of the body. For had he truly received such revelation, he
would be bound to change. He would seek out fellowship and would learn
submission.
The Authority of Life
No member has any authority, for authority rests only in the Head. It is a serious
mistake for a member to claim he has such authority in himself. A member does
not possess direct authority; he has only the authority delegated to him by the
Head. And this authority is not something positional, it is wholly of life. Such
authority does not come through "appointment" but by "being": If a member is
not an eye, the body has no way to appoint him as its eye. If he is not a hand,
the body cannot make him a hand through appointment. He has the authority of
holding or of seeing only because he can hold or see. And as he functions along
that line, people receive help.
It is a serious blunder if, in a church, authority becomes a matter of position and

not of life - if a person is appointed because of his social position and not
because of his spirituality. The word of God plainly shows us that authority is in
life, not in position or background. Authority in a person is established in living,
not in ordination. In his personal and corporate life he has experienced dealings
in practical matters and has learned what other people have yet to learn. In the
body of Christ, all authorities are out of life.
Although in a local assembly God has His appointment, even so, such
appointment is not according to position, but according to life. When life and
appointment agree, you must submit; otherwise, life will cease and you will be
dislocated from the body - thus signifying that you do not hold fast the Head. If
something is wrong between you and another member, you cannot say you have
a normal relationship with the Head. If you have wronged another member of
the body, you subsequently may not forget any teaching and you may even
continue to carry on a work of ministry as usual, but you lose the word of life.
Some brethren may have believed in the Lord for three years now. Yet how
much real progress have they made? What is most pitiful is that though their
courtesy and knowledge may have appeared to have increased, the life of the
body of Christ in them has not increased.
Hence in the church we need to learn how to submit to one another. If members
do not mutually submit, the life mentioned in Romans 8 will not be able to be
manifested. On the contrary, brethren will feel as though air were leaking out of
them - they can hardly go on. But to those who have discerned the body of
Christ, they consider submission to be a most joyful thing.
In Acts 8 we have a case which illustrates the law of the body. When the church
at Jerusalem suffered its first great persecution, all the brethren with the
exception of the apostles were scattered abroad. Those who were scattered
went about preaching the word of God. Now Philip was not an apostle, for his
ministry in Jerusalem lay in serving the tables. Yet there was much life in him.
And he went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed Christ to the people
there. Signs were performed by him, and unclean spirits were cast out from
many of them, and many who were palsied and lame were healed. The entire
city was filled with the sound of the gospel. And the Bible account notes that
"there was much joy in the city" (Acts 8:8) - thus indicating that there were
multitudes who believed.
Being so mightily used by the Lord, Philip, had he wished to, could have proudly
declared that though in Jerusalem it was Peter who saved souls, in Samaria the
one who saved souls was Philip himself. He could have regarded himself as a
great man in history. Yet after Philip had preached the gospel in Samaria, the
experience of those who were saved turned out to be different from the
experience of those who had been saved in Jerusalem - because in Samaria the
Holy Spirit had not fallen on any of them. These Samaritans had truly believed
and they had been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, but the Holy Spirit
had not fallen on any of them. Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard about
this, they sent Peter and John to Samaria. And after their arrival, they prayed for
the new converts that they might receive the Holy Spirit. The apostles laid their
hands on them, and thus they received the Holy Spirit.
What is the meaning of the incident of the laying on of hands? The book of
Leviticus tells us that during the offering of a sacrifice hands of the one doing the
offering were laid on the head of the animal sacrifice. What does this laying
hands on the sacrifice represent? Only the bullocks which had hands laid on
them could be offered up; the rest of the bullocks in the world could not be
offered. Why? Simply this, that the lying of hands on the bullock joins the one
who lays hands and the bullock into one. The bullock becomes the offerer. In
offering up the bullock, the offerer actually offers up himself. As the bullock is
accepted, so too is he accepted. And hence, the basic meaning of the laying on
of hands is union.
The New Testament also mentions the laying on of hands a number of times.
One place is found in 1 Timothy: "Lay hands hastily on no man, neither be
partaker of other men's sins: keep yourself pure" (1 Tim. 5:22). Since the laying
on of hands is a being joined together of other men's sins if he is not careful in
doing so. Laying on of hands means union, which in turn means fellowship. In
the Old Testament times, at the commissioning of kings and priests, hands were
laid on their heads as well as oil was poured on their heads. Consequently, the
laying on of hands means, firstly, the bringing of men under the anointing of the
head, and secondly, the bringing of them into the fellowship of the body.
Today, in the church, the apostles are the representative members of the body
of Christ. They also represent the authority of Christ. As the apostles laid hands
on the believers in Samaria they recognized the latter as now being in the body.
As soon as these believers entered the body, the Holy Spirit descended upon
them. Suppose the saved in Samaria had received the Holy Spirit before the
arrival of the apostles; then Philip might have been led to think that if the
apostles knew how to work in Jerusalem, he also would know how to work in
Samaria - with the consequence that the saved in Samaria would have had no
connection with the saved in Jerusalem. And thus, to say that Jerusalem has
Peter and Samaria has Philip would have been to destroy the principle of the
body. For if such had been the case, the work which God had done in Jerusalem
and the work which He had done in Samaria would have been two separate
works, not one undifferentiated work in two places. For this reason, this incident
in Samaria was important in that it caused the believers in Samaria to see that
unless they had submitted to the one body of Christ there would have been no
anointing. They had to wait until the apostles had come from Jerusalem and had
laid their hands on them. For only then did the Holy Spirit fall upon them.
How we need to see that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the one body. And if so,
then it is basically wrong to seek the Holy Spirit for the sake of one's own self.
Why is it that some people are deceived? Why, for example, are some believers
the recipients of evil spirits? It is because of their individualism - because of their
not apprehending the body. The kind of vessel which the Lord looks for today is
a corporate one, not an individual one. Individual work and individual fruit can
never fully satisfy the Lord's heart, neither will they ever attain to God's ultimate
aim. The principle of the laying on of hands must be in every work. In such
laying on of hands is the recognition of union. In the laying on of hands is the
acknowledgment of fellowship. In the laying on of hands is the confession of one
body.
"Wherefore leaving the doctrine of the first principles of Christ, let us press on to
perfection; not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works, and of
faith toward God, of the teaching of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of
resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment" (Heb. 6:1,2). Here we find six
matters which constitute the doctrine of the first principles of Christ, and these
six can be divided into three groups of two each: namely, that the first group
includes two actions; the second, two external testimonies; and the third, two
teachings concerning the future. Repentance from dead works and faith towards
God are two actions; baptism and the laying on of hands represent two external
testimonies; and the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment form two
teachings with respect to the future. It is interesting that we today do not
neglect five of these six, but the one concerning the laying on of hands we do
overlook. Even though the4 Bible does not have an explicit command about the
laying on of hands, we cannot deny the fact that people who were saved during
the apostolic days received the laying on of hands immediately after they were
baptized. Baptism is unto Christ, the laying on of hands is unto the body. In the
laying on of hands, a believer testifies as to his relationship with the body as well
as to his relationship with Christ. It speaks of the fact that he is to submit to the
authority of the head and not to act independently, that he is to deny
individualism in work as well as in living.
"Where one member suffers," says Paul, "all the members suffer with it; or if one
member is honored, all the members rejoice with it" (1 Cor. 12:26). With the
laying on of hands, a believer is giving testimony to his having been delivered
from individualism and his having become a member of the body of Christ. When
a person receives the laying on of hands, he does so for the sake of desiring to
stand in proper place in the body.
Imparting Gift Through the Laying On of Hands
"I put you in remembrance," said Paul to Timothy, "that you stir up the gift of
God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands" (2 Tim. 1:6). What is
meant here is that the gift young Timothy received when he had experienced the
laying on of hands must be stirred up and revived. Moreover, elsewhere Paul
said this to Timothy: "Neglect not the gift that is in you, which was given to you
by prophecy, with the laying on of hands of the presbytery" (1 Tim. 4:14). In the
instance referred to here, the apostle plus the eldership had imparted a gift to
Timothy by prophecy. The one who gives a gift is of course the divine Anointing.
When Paul and the elders laid hands on Timothy and prayed, God gave to one of
them a prophetic prayer which predicted what kind of person Timothy would be
in the future. And this prayer regulated the giving of the gift. When one who has
had deep experience with the Lord lays his hands on people, the content of his
prayer shall become the characteristic of the person who receives the laying on
of hands. For here the authority of the Head is transmitted through a
representative member, and thus a proper gift is granted to the one who
receives the laying on of hands.
All who have had the laying on of hands should see that thereafter they have
become a part of the body: thereafter they will not seek spirituality for their
personal profit but for the good of the body. From now on, whether the Lord
uses them or uses somebody else makes no difference. They will not be jealous
when another member is being used. Oh how many works are done on an
individual basis, oh how much seeking is for personal spiritual profit! May God
deliver us from all these even as He has delivered us from sin.
Pray With Anointing
"Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them
pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord" (Jas. 5:14). This
verse should be read together with a passage in 1 Corinthians 11: "He that eats
and drinks, eats and drinks judgment unto himself, if he does not discern the
body. For this cause many among you are weak and sickly, and not a few sleep"
(1 Cor. 11:29,30). There are many reasons for sickness: some are due to the
violation of natural physiological laws, but some are due to the violation of the
law of the body of Christ. If a Christian does not discern the body, he will be
subject to weakness and sickness. For sickness of this kind, he must ask the
elders to come. These elders are appointed by God in the local assembly. They
are representative members. They represent the body of Christ in the locality.
They will come and anoint the sick with oil.
"...the precious oil upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's
beard; that came down upon the skirt of his garments" (Psa. 133:2). In the
olden days of the priesthood the oil was poured on Aaron the high priest's head
and it then flowed from his head to the skirt of his garments. The Oil of God is
upon the head of Christ, for the Holy Spirit is given to the Son. And thus
Christians receive the anointing under the headship of Christ their High Priest.
Why must this sick person ask the elders to come and anoint him with oil? When
a person is sick, you may readily recognize what his sickness is by knowing the
medicine which the doctor has prescribed or given him. Here in James the
apostle has told us what God has prescribed for the one who is sick. He is to ask
the elders to come and anoint him with oil. Anointing with oil is what is
prescribed for this person's sickness? So why then this prescription? It is simply
because he has lost the anointing. Had he stood in the proper place as a
member should have, he would not have lost the anointing and would not have
therefore fallen sick. But because he does not discern the body, therefore he is
sick. Under such a circumstance, what will the elders do? They will bring the sick
one back under the Head and cause him to return to the body. If the believer
lives in the body, he will not lose the anointing; but if he walks out of the body,
he will either be sick or become dead. Do let us understand from this that it is
well if we really discern the life of the body and live therein.
The sickness mentioned in James 5 is thus a special kind of sickness. How do we

know his sickness is a special one and not a general one? Because in the
following verse the apostle writes this: "And the prayer of faith shall save him
that is sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he has committed sins, it shall
be forgiven him" (Jas. 5:15). What sin has he committed? Here his sin must have
been the leaving of the body of Christ. Had the sin he committed been of a
personal nature, all he would have needed to have done was to have trusted the
precious Blood, and if necessary to have confessed it to any other people
involved and had it dealt with. And he then would have been forgiven. He would
not need to ask the elders to come and anoint him with oil in order to receive
such forgiveness. The anointing with oil by the elders cannot get rid of sin: it is
the Blood that washes sin away. Nevertheless, what is written here is that "if he
has committed sins, it shall be forgiven him"; and this forgiveness comes
through the prayer of the elders. Hence this sin is different from the ordinary
kind. This is the sin of disharmony with the body. Such kind of sin will not be
forgiven even if he himself prays to God. He needs the brethren, he needs the
elders to come and pray for him. Only then will he be forgiven. He needs the
help of others.
The next verse is very special: "Confess therefore your sins one to another, and
pray one for another, that you may be healed. The supplication of a righteous
man avails much in its working" (Jas. 5:16). Why does it mention here to
"confess therefore your sins one to another"? Simply because there is something
wrong in the body of Christ and there is therefore the need to confess sins one
to another. The sick one must confess his sins to the elders, and vice versa. This
shows us that when one member is wrong, the entire body is responsible. In the
body of Christ, if one member is sick, then the elders of the entire church have
their responsibility. Perhaps the elders do not show enough love or care. They
need to confess this sin. The sick person, of course, must also confess his sin -
the sin of being independent and of being out of touch with the body.
They must not only confess one to another, but also "pray one for another": the
elders will again pray for the sick, and the sick will pray for the elders. This
sufficiently shows the need for love and humility in the church. When a person
falls away from the body, he is not only sick physically but also sick spiritually.
For whenever he is out of touch with the body, he is out from under the
anointing. How important it is for him to see the need of returning to the
anointing and to the body.
The Revelation Paul Received at Repentance
Acts 9 shows us that at the time of Paul's repentance the revelation he received
contained two aspects. As he traveled on the road to Damascus, a light from
heaven suddenly shone on him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying
to him: "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?" The Lord is saying, "Why are
you persecuting Me?": He does not say, "Why do you persecute those who
believe in Me?" And so Paul asked, "Who are You, Lord?" To which the Lord
answered: "I am Jesus whom you are persecuting." (Acts 9:3-5). Here the Lord
demonstrated to Paul that all who believe in Him are one with Him. Such was the
first aspect of God's revelation to Paul; namely, the intimate, indivisible oneness
between the Head and the body. Paul was the first one in the Bible who saw the
testimony of the body of Christ. No one can touch the member without at the
same time touching the Head. For this reason, let us never think we can sin
against our brother without concomitantly sinning against Christ. Let us ever be
reminded that whoever touches even the smallest member of the body touches
the very Head of the body. He who is hurt is the member; but he who feels it is
the Head.
Paul was a man greatly used by God. Yet on the road to Damascus, the Lord said
to him: "Rise, and enter into the city and it shall be told to you what you must
do" (Acts 9:6). What the Lord meant by this was: I will not tell you what you are
to do, but somebody else will do so. The Lord used someone else to tell Paul.
This is a revelation of the body, and this second aspect of God's revelation to
Paul is equally as great as the first aspect. On the first day of Paul's salvation,
the Lord revealed to him the law or principle of the body. Though Paul is to be a
vessel mightily used by the Lord, the Lord nevertheless uses other people to help
him. Hence let us never think we do not need to depend on others as though we
are to get everything directly from God alone. True, this is not meant to teach us
to follow other people blindly, but it does admonish us not to entertain such a
loft attitude wherein we believe we by ourselves may receive the word of the
Lord and solve all problems singlehandedly.
Note what happened to Paul: "And Saul arose from the ground; and when his
eyes were opened, he saw nothing; and they led him by the hand, and brought
him into Damascus. And he was three days without sight, and did neither eat nor
drink" (Acts 9:8-9). Paul had already entered the city, but for three days no one
came to tell him what he should do. What if he had grown impatient? After three
days, though, Ananias came. Who was this Ananias? Before this incident, we
have never seen or heard of his name; and even afterwards, we shall hear no
more of him. He was not a man of fame, yet the Lord apprehended him with
authority and used him to help one of the greatest apostles. The understanding
of a great apostle was opened to him not by himself but by a little known
brother. When Ananias beheld Saul (soon to become Paul), he laid his hands on
him and said: "Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, who appeared unto you in the
way which you came, has sent me, that you may receive your sight, and be filled
with the Holy Spirit" (Acts 9:17). His laying hands on Paul and saying "Brother
Saul" was for the purpose of showing to Paul the body. And for Paul to be filled
with the Holy Spirit is to bring him under the anointing.
Many times the leading of the Holy Spirit in us is to bring us to receive another's
leading and to accept help from others. If we do not accept another's help, we
will miss out on much the Lord has for us. Some Christians decide everything by
their own personal feeling. Where, then, is the body? Such believers live entirely
in the individual realm; they do not see or experience the body.
Brethren ought to recall their past and take inventory as to how many actions of
theirs were in the realm of the body. We each must see this: that I am a
member, that I am restricted by the body, that I will receive help from other
members in the church. May God show each of us the body now. Yet just what
kind of a man is he who perceives the body? He is a person who seeks for
fellowship, who fears that he himself may be wrong, and who dare not work
independently. Such is the person who has discerned the body.
The Judgment of the Brethren
The following words from Matthew 18 are rather marvelous: "And if your brother
sin against you, go show him his fault between you and him alone: if he hears
you, you have gained your brother. But if doesn't hear you, take with you one or
two more, that at the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be
established" (Mt. 18:15,16). What is said here is not whether you yourself feel
any wrong or not; but rather that if two or three brothers say you are wrong,
you must be wrong. The emphasis is on whether anything is wrong, not whether
you feel something is wrong.
Suppose, for example, that a brother declares to you: "You have sinned against
me in a certain matter," but that you are not aware of anything being wrong. So
you go to pray. After praying, you still are not conscious of any wrong. And thus
you tell your brother as follows: "Though you say I have sinned against you, I do
not feel I have wronged you. I have prayed, and still I have no sense of having
wronged you. I did not pray carelessly. I really prayed earnestly about it. I am
not conscious of any wrong. It is not that I refuse to acknowledge a wrong; on
the contrary, I am anxious to confess any sin. Nevertheless, I do not see
anything wrong here." Your brother will then go and tell some other brothers.
After hearing the matter, they all come to you and say you are wrong. Being a
humble person, you would not at all refuse to confess a sin, yet you cannot in
this instance confess, since you see no wrong. So you will go pray again, but still
there is no change in your inner sentiment about the matter. Nonetheless, the
Lord says that if your brothers all say you are wrong, you must be wrong
whether you feel you have been wrong or not.
Another verse in Matthew 18 makes the issue even clearer. It tells us the reason
why I must be wrong when I do not feel so and yet the brethren say I am
wrong: "For where two or three are gathered together unto My name, there am I
in the midst of them" (Mt. 18:20 Darby). Some people take this verse to be a
promise. This is not accurate. The Lord does not give this verse to serve as a
basis for asking His presence. What this Scripture verse says is that where two or
three are gathered unto the name of the Lord, there will He be in the midst of
them. To be gathered together to the name of the Lord signifies the abandoning
of individualism (that is, that nothing is now according to one's self) and the
standing on the ground of the body of Christ. Since Christ is in all of them, there
He is in the midst of them. Where two or three deny themselves and stand for
Christ, the Lord will manifest Himself. True harmony expresses the body. If we
are found standing on the ground of the body of Christ, the Lord's authority is
present. With Christ in their midst, they can represent the body. And hence,
when other brothers see the fault which you yourself fail to see, you should
listen to the two or three rather than to yourself. This is not meant to suggest
that you blindly listen to the word of others. Only if the two or three really deny
themselves and are gathered to the name of the Lord is it wise for you to accept
the judgment of others rather than trust in your own judgment.
In the church there are four classes of people who represent the body: 1) the
apostles; 2) the elders; 3) an individual believer specially sent by the Lord, such
as in the case of Ananias being specifically sent to speak to Paul; and 4) two or
three believers who deny themselves and gather themselves and gather
themselves to the name of the Lord. These four classes of people of people
represent the body. In the event you are wrong about something, the Lord may
specially send to you a single believer to tell you wherein you are wrong. If you
do not listen to a single believer, the latter will tell it to two or three others; and
these two or three believers will then speak to you. If you will still not listen, you
next will need the help of the elders. You cannot afford to act independently.
In many unsolved matters you need to seek out the elders and the apostles,
because they are especially chosen by the Lord to represent the body. The
apostles and the elders should be notified concerning any important affairs so
that they may help you in unclear situations. We must not neglect the body nor
those who represent it, else we shall not be able to live out the life of the
church. May the Lord give us not only the revelation of the body so that we may
have the testimony of the body but also grace to submit to those who represent
it.
As soon as a person receives salvation he should be brought immediately into

the fellowship of the body of Christ. May the Lord enable us to obey the body as
well as to obey the Lord. May He deliver us from individual, independent action
and cause us to live out fully the life of the body of Christ.
7. The Covering, Restraint, and Supply of the Body of Christ
And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him to
be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the
fullness of Him that fills all in all. (Eph. 1:22,23)
From whom all the body fitly framed and knit together through that
which every joint supplies, according to the working in due
measure of each several part, makes the increase of the body unto
the building up of itself in love. (Eph. 4:16)
Subjecting yourselves one to another in the fear of Christ. (Eph.

5:21)
Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might. Put
on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against
the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood
but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the
darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the
heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that
you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all,
to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth,
having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod
your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all,
taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all
the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation,
and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying
always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful
to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints"
(Eph. 6:10-18)
In this chapter we shall look into a few more matters related to the body of
Christ. These matters are 1) the covering of the body, 2) the restraint of the
body, and 3) the supply of the body.
The Covering of the Body
As we have seen, the church is the body of Christ and every Christian is a
member of that body. The body of Christ not only supplies but also protects its
members. The body protection to each member is especially seen in spiritual
warfare. Such protection is of utmost importance. One reason why a child of God
is attacked by the devil is because he is too individualistic and thus he lacks the
protection of the body. How very foolish and dangerous for anyone to expose
himself in the days of spiritual conflict. Because such a person is not under the
covering of the body Satan is given opportunity to attack.
We should understand that spiritual warfare belongs to the church, not to an

individual. The Epistle to the Ephesians is a letter which deals with the body of
Christ. In its first chapter this letter speaks of how God has blessed us with every
spiritual blessing in the heavenly places so that we may know the power of His
Son's resurrection. In the same chapter it also shows us how the Lord Jesus is
the head of the church and how God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing
in the heavenly places so that we may know the power of His Son's resurrection.
In the same chapter it also shows us how the Lord Jesus is the Head of the
church and how the church is the body of Christ - the vessel which contains
Christ. How exceedingly rich is the church because she is filled with Christ who
fills all in all. In the second chapter Paul tells us the origin of the body of Christ.
Although the church is so rich, she should not forget her former state. She is in
possession of such a rich position because of the salvation of God in redeeming
her from her fallen condition. The third chapter deals with the mystery of God
which reveals how both the Gentiles and the Jews are being brought together to
form one new man in Christ. Chapter 4 unveils how God will build up the body of
Christ and cause it to increase gradually in stature. And chapter 5 emphasizes
the need for us to accept the restraint of the body since the church is the body
of Christ. And finally, chapter 6 mentions the armor of the body: "Put on the
whole armor of God that you may be able to stand" (Eph. 6:11). Please notice
that it is "you" plural and not "you" singular who are to put on the whole armor
of God. This one special armor is for this one entire body. True, each member
has his peculiar feature. But only by putting all these peculiar features together
can there be the whole armor of God that then makes the body fit for spiritual
warfare.
In view of this fact, let us not forget that this spiritual armor is given to the
church and not to anyone individually. You as an individual cannot cope with
Satan. It requires the church to deal with the enemy. What you as an individual
cannot see and safeguard, other members see and guard against. Satan is not
afraid of your personal prayer, but he trembles indeed when a few pray
together. Some members of the body are given faith in large proportion which
then can serve as a shield for your protection. Some others have the word of
God is a special measure, and this can stand as the sword of the Holy Spirit.
When one or several of them wield the sword - that is, when he or they use the
word of God - this serves to help you. We must realize that spiritual warfare is
preeminently a joint battle. It is not something that you are to get into
singlehandedly. If you go to the fight alone, you draw the attention of Satan to
yourself for his assault.
Whoever has not seen the body thinks he is competent for anything and that he
himself is everything. Such a person is very easily defeated. A single tree may
quite readily be severed from the soil, but a whole forest of trees cannot so
easily be swept away by the wind. Satan looks for such solitary and uncovered
persons to attack. He assaults the independent and the isolated. But whoever is
under the covering of the body of Christ is protected, for the body has this
specific function: to serve as a protective covering.
As his special target of attack Satan cannot pick on one who has the covering of
the body. But the person who is not under this covering is liable to fall should he
ever be attacked. This has been demonstrated many times over by the
experience of numerous Christians. For example, there once was a brother who
suffered ill-health. Yet this was due to the fact that he was an isolated,
independent believer before the Lord. For since he did not have the covering of
the body of Christ, he was attacked by Satan for his self-confidence and self-
reliance. Let us realize that self-exposure is most dangerous, that self-confidence
and self-reliance are extremely perilous. If worldly warfare needs protective
covering, how much more is covering required in spiritual warfare! A good
brother who tries to act alone creates his own snare!
Many spiritual failures and defeats can be attributed to no other reason than our
being single- handed without the covering of the body. We by ourselves are each
of us but one member of the body, and consequently we cannot live without the
protection of other brothers and sisters. Even Moses' hands needed the support
of Aaron and Hur (see Ex. 17:12). If even Moses needed the support of other
members, what about us?
The gates of Hades cannot prevail against the church. This very thing the Lord
Jesus Himself promised and declared (see Mt. 16:18). Yet our Lord has never
promised God's children that they could be independent or leave the church.
Spiritual warfare is not a personal affair, it is a body task. And hence, in order to
obtain the needed protection, we must go to the brethren. Let us never think of
ourselves as individually competent and "go it alone" - for such will only mean
self-inflicted suffering.
Yet how can anyone depend on the brethren if his natural life has not been dealt
with? It is obvious that the person whose natural life remains untouched can
neither trust God nor trust the brethren. No self-dependent, self-conceited
person is able to walk together with the brethren. So God looks for people who
know the inadequacy of themselves and who consequently seek protection
among the brethren. The vessel which God needs is a whole body composed of
those who recognize that they are but individual members who are in need of
the help of the body. If anyone among the brothers and sisters is never joined to
others and always acts according to his own will, that one is bound to fall.
Is there not even one brother or sister with whom you could consult? Is there
truly no one with whom you could pray? Let me say that if ever you miss the
body you lose your covering and are thereby exposed to great danger. Do not be
so careless, for even in earthly war there is the need for covering. In earthly
warfare, not seeking for cover when covering is needed is against every sound
rule of good strategy and constitutes a dangerous flirtation with death. How very
true this is in spiritual warfare as well. If every you lose protection but do not
incur any danger, rest assured that this is only because of God's special mercy
and not an evidence that you are well-versed in sound spiritual strategy.
The Restraint of the Body
Since we are but members of the body of Christ we should never think of
ourselves as being everything. Being individual members, we ought to accept the
restraint of the body. If in the church you are a hand, you must not only be
happy to be a hand but also be glad to receive the restraints which come from
other members. Do not let the hand move independently. Each part of the body
is under the restraint of the body; none can take individualistic liberty. Suppose,
for instance, that you now need to take a trip. Even if one member in your
physical body is too lazy to move, it must nonetheless go with your body. It is
inconceivable that your body could go away and leave that particular member at
home. In just such a manner are we to be the members of the body of Christ.
We must be joined in one with other brothers and sisters.
The work of the cross, besides bringing us into the body, has its sphere of
operation within the body as well. If we are merely members to each other as
those in a congregation are, we may not need the cross; but if we are joined
together to be one body, we must have the cross. For the cross will take you and
me away, it will take away our natural life, our individual movement, our inflated
self. The cross is a must among Christians, it is a must in the church. Wether we
like it or not, we must communicate with our brothers and sisters because we
are all in the same body. Being in the body, we have to accept restraint. We
cannot afford to be free-handed. Now if we do not wish to be a member of the
body, we may indeed seek for our personal satisfaction alone. But if we want to
be a member, we cannot look only for our own fulfillment. If you or I should
encounter a troublesome brother, we really need the cross in such a situation.
For the cross will test us, the cross will drain out all our offscourings, it will clear
away all our uncleanness. In short, we must be restrained by the body. Such
restraint makes impossible our freewheeling. It reminds us of the need of the
cross. Unless we allow the cross to do a deep enough work in our lives we are
not able to be fitly joined to our brothers and sisters.
Because each Christian is a member of the body of Christ he must accept its
restraint and must learn to bear the cross. Some members are highly
individualistic; such strong individualism needs to be broken. Some are quite
offensively peculiar, and such peculiarity must also be broken. No Christian in the
church can boast of his toughness and peculiarity. In the church, whatever is
sharp, piercing, and protruding must be rubbed smooth.
In spiritual things how we need to depend on other members and in so doing to

know the restraint of the body. Some members are given by God the gift of
performing miracles; some receive grace to preach the gospel; and others are
divinely equipped to be teachers. If you are chosen to preach the gospel, preach
it with glad and willing heart, and be humble enough to receive the Bible
teaching from those who are gifted to teach. If you have the gift of a teacher, do
not therefore consider yourself as able in all other things. You should respect and
receive the gift and work of others. In this, too, we need to learn restraint. What
we cannot do, we should let others do; and we should learn to accept the work
of other people as if it is our own. In spiritual work, no one can do everything
freely.
Allow me to inquire of you, Have you asked God to show you what your measure
is before Him? You should act according to the measure which God has
apportioned to you. This is what you can do, and you must not stretch yourself
beyond it. Find out your own measure and stay within that measure. If you
accept the limitation of such measure you will not be tempted with greediness or
some other ambition. In this regard, let us take note of what Paul said to the
Corinthian believers: "According to the measure of the limit which God
apportioned to us as a measure, [we] reach even to you. For we stretch not
ourselves overmuch, as though we did not reach you...but having hope that, as
your faith grows, we shall be magnified in you according to our limit to further
abundance, so as to preach the gospel even to the regions beyond you, and not
to glory in another's province in regard of things ready to our hand" (2 Cor.
10:13-16 mg.). To go beyond one's measure is to step on another's province.
Going beyond one's measure is kicking and ousting others. Let us be aware of
this, that our consecration should cause us to obey the body with humility as
much as to obey Christ. "Neither do I exercise myself in great matters," declared
King David, "or in things to wonderful for me" (Psa. 131:1). Those things which
are too great and too wonderful are matters which stretch a person beyond his
measure. If all members of the body of Christ will keep to this rule - not daring
to venture forth into areas which are too great and too wonderful for them - all
will be able to work in due measure of each several part, thus manifesting the
functions of each member. Otherwise, some in the church will monopolize and
some will draw back; with the result that the church will suffer loss. In view of
this, let all believers return to their places in the body and accept its restraint so
that the church may not incur any harm.
The Supply of the Body
The body possesses an inherent principle, which is fellowship. The fellowship of

the body means not just receiving but also supplying. Should you only regard
yourself as one on the receiving end of things and reckon yourself as fairly good
if you receive with quietness and in an orderly manner, you lack an
understanding of the meaning of supply of the body. You also will become a
weight to the body, an ailment and a burden to it.
Keep in mind that fellowship is the life of the church, that fellowship is an
inherent principle of the body. Every part of our physical body is involved in a
constant flow of life. Whenever a part is cut off from the body's system of
communication, that part dies. But when a part is sick, all other parts of the body
rush to help and to protect it. Now just as the laws of the physical body is, so is
the law of the spiritual body. The rule of church life, therefore, is the principle of
mutual supplying. And whenever a member violates this rule, he brings death to
the body and he himself becomes a weight upon it.
"What is it then, brethren? When you come together, each one has a psalm, has
a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all things
be done to edify" (1 Cor. 14:26). So Paul instructed the Corinthian believers.
Some people come to a church meeting as if they were tourists or spectators.
Coming in such a manner will doubtless bring death to the meeting. Many times
death is felt in church meetings, a death which has been brought in by such
visitors as these. Let this not be so. Let there be a mutual supplying of one
another in all the meetings, not only in times of the breaking of bread but also in
the hours of the ministry of the word of God.
Like the physical body, all the member parts of the spiritual body of Christ are
incessantly communicating with each other: no part can stop at where it is. If
any part should cease communicating, it stops the flow of the life of God and
brings in death to the body. No member can stop communicating or
fellowshiping without doing damage to the church, neither can any member be
useful without the need of the supply of the church. Some believers, upon being
provoked, tend to retreat to a place all by themselves. They assume that as long
as they seek to be spiritual, everything will be all right. Well, you just try to grow
spiritually by this method and see what will happen. It will not bear positive fruit,
for life must constantly flow. Never imagine we can be spiritual by setting
ourselves aside in isolation. And keep well in mind that the vessel which God
ultimately seeks after is the body, not the individual. Whoever is isolated or
separated from the church is not able to continue long.
On the day that the Lord Jesus sat down by the well of Jacob in Samaria He was
hungry and thirsty. But the Samaritan woman was more thirsty than the Lord. So
He offered living water to her that she might be satisfied. When the disciples
came back with the food, He was no longer hungry (see Jn. 4:5-34). From this
episode in the life of our Lord we learn this spiritual lesson, that whoever serves
others in order that they may not be thirsty shall himself be satisfied: that the
one who learns to bear another's burden shall find his own burden easier to
bear. In spiritual work, there is no possibility of retirement: "My Father works
even until now," declared the Lord Jesus, "and I work" (Jn. 5:17). The Christians
should therefore render the supply of life in their daily walk and work as well as
in the meetings of the church.
May God open our eyes to see the body of Christ so that we may receive the
covering and the restraint of the body as well as bring supply to others. May He
cause us to see that everyone of us has a part to play in the meetings of the
church. To utter the word "body" only with our lips is totally inadequate; the
concept of "the body" must be in our hearts and manifested in our daily walk.
For the body of Christ is not merely a teaching, it is an actual life to be lived. If
you think you can live without the restraint, the protection, and the supply of the
church, it is quite evident you have not received the revelation of the body of
Christ. After you have received the life of God you will invariably feel dry if you
live by your natural life. Similarly, after you have received the revelation
concerning the body of Christ you will sense inadequacy if you live independently
in your own self.
Without revelation on a given teaching, you will have to hold on tightly to the
teaching lest you forget it. But once you have the revelation about it, it becomes
quite natural to your life so that you have no further need to exercise yourself in
trying to remember it. Take the example from the physical realm: your eyes wink
without any need of remembrance and your eyes close and open automatically
without mental recall. The same is true in the spiritual realm - for example, with
respect to the body of Christ. With revelation given concerning the body, you
sense in yourself the need to experience the body. You do not need to memorize
it as a concept or a teaching or an extern al law and try to put it into practice.
That which is done according to external law is Jewish in nature. And what is
done through remembering a law is not life. If our interior realm has been
touched by the Lord and our inner eyes have been opened to perceive what the
body of Christ is, we will just naturally live in its reality.
Hence what is important here is the need for revelation. God wants to recover
the life of the body, not the teaching of the body. The body of Christ is a life
which needs to be experienced. We must enter into the reality of it. And if we
live in the reality of the body of Christ we will know how concrete it is. We will
not only understand its principles but we will also live out its life.
8. Three Cardinal Principles on Living in the Body of Christ
We have been shown clearly in the previous chapters that in the body of Christ
there are many members - and yet all these members are one, with each having
its particular office or function; for God has not made all members the same but
has made every member differently. This fact Paul has made plain in Romans 12:
"For even as we have many members in one body, [yet] all the members have
not the same office [function]" (Rom. 12:4). But how, then, can all these
members with their various functions be fitly framed and knit together as one
body? This is the question for our present consideration here. In answering this
question, we must first realize that there are three cardinal principles which are
indispensable to our living in the body of Christ - the first which governs the
relationship between me and the Head; the second of which governs the
relationship between me and the body; and the third, my place as a member.
My Relation to the Head (Christ) - Subjection
The meaning of my Christian consecration has to do with my desire to be

obedient to the Lord. I do not want to be free, nor will I be rebellious to
authority. The first principle on living in the body of Christ is to be in subjection
to the authority of the Head, since the very existence of the body with its varied
functions and activities depend on authority. Whenever authority loses its ground
in us, the body is immediately paralyzed. Whichever part of the body is
disobedient, that part experiences paralysis. It is only a paralyzed body which is
not subject to the command of the head. Where life is, there is authority. It is
inconceivable to reject authority and still receive life.
All who are full of life have been obedient to authority. How, for example, can
my physical hand have life and yet resist the control of my head? My hand is
living because it is manageable by my head. The very meaning of living for my
hand signifies that my head is able to direct and use it. The same is true in the
relationship between any member of the body of Christ and the Head. The very
first principle for each member who lives in the body of Christ, therefore, is to
obey the Lord who is the head. If you and I have not been dealt with until such
time as we become obedient persons, then what we know about the body is
merely doctrinal in nature, not a matter of life.
What a blessed thing it is to have God deal with our natural life, causing us to be
in subjection to Christ the Head! We ought to seek for obedience daily. Not only
should we look for opportunities by which to advance spiritually that we may be
holy and righteous, we should also seek before God every opportunity to obey
that we may likewise learn obedience.
My Relationship to the Body (Church) - Fellowship
Our relationship to the Head is subjection, while our relationship to the body is
fellowship. Among God's children, fellowship is not only a fact but also a
necessity. The life of the body of Christ relies on fellowship, for without it the
body will die. What is fellowship? For me to receive help from other members -
that is fellowship. For example, in the body of Christ, perhaps I am a mouth, and
I can therefore speak forth. But I need the fellowship of that member who may
be ears in order that I may also hear; I need the fellowship of him who may be
eyes so that I may see; I require the fellowship of the one who may be hands in
the body in order that I may take hold of things; and I also require the fellowship
of the member who supplies feet to the body in order that I may walk. And
hence it is by means of fellowship that I can receive the distinctive functions of
other members and thus make all that they have mine.
Some Christians do not understand the principle of fellowship. They wish to seek
the Lord by themselves and to pray by themselves. They themselves do all
things. They want to be not only a mouth but also ears, to be hands as well as
feet. Not so with those who know God, because they know they need fellowship.
In fellowship they acknowledge that they themselves are limited and insufficient.
Through fellowship they gladly receive as their own what the others have.
What is true of fellowship in the realm of teaching can be most real in fact. For
can any of us honestly say that he has actually prayed three hundred sixty-five
days in the year or that he has carefully read the Bible every day of the year?
Experience tells us that due to physical weakness or some other cause we
cannot avoid having a day or two in the year wherein we are unable to pray and
read the Bible as we should. Is it because of such deficiency that I must
therefore be defeated? that I must fall to the ground? No, not at all. For most
surprisingly, within a given week, say on Monday of that week, I may feel rather
near to God, and from Tuesday to Friday I continue to feel all right, but that on
Saturday I neither pray nor read the Bible as I should - due probably to fatigue:
yet I do not necessarily fall on Saturday, nor need I be worse than Friday; for
strangely enough, a power seems to sustain me and bring me through the day.
Now what is the cause for such support? Is it not due to the supply of the life of
the body?
Many of God's children can testify to this kind of experience. And this happens
not just once or twice, but numerous times. According to our own condition we
are extremely weak, but god carries us through. How? By means of the mutual
supply of the body of Christ. Unknown to others, some member in the body is
praying, asking God to give grace to all His children. And hence life flows from
another member to us, thus enabling us to stand. The life of the body is able to
flow into us and carry us through.
My Place As a Member - Service
If we have now seen that the life of the body is communicative and mutually
supplying, we should likewise begin to realize before God that we should not be
simply those who consume life but even more so be those who supply life. If
there are too few members to supply life in the body of Christ while at the same
time there are too many member who wait to receive the life supply, the
strength of the body will be exhausted. Accordingly, we ourselves need to pray
for other people. God will use our prayer to supply life to other members.
Whenever they have need, life will flow into them.
"And whether one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or one
member is honored, all the members rejoice with it" (1 Cor. 12:26). It does not
say here that if one member suffers, all the members ought to suffer with it; nor
does it say if one member is honored, all the members ought to rejoice with it.
The word of God does not say whether we ought to or not. On the contrary,
God's word declares quite plainly that if one member suffers, all the other
members do in fact suffer with it - and that if one member is honored, all the
other members do in actual fact rejoice with it. This statement will therefore
explain why frequently you and I may experience odd sensations. Often we do
not understand why on a given occasion we feel so heavy and yet after two days
the heaviness disappears. May I say that is due to no other reason that the
relationship which exists in the body of Christ among the various members.
Such a phenomenon can be illustrated by an occurrence which took place during

the time of the great Welsh Revival. In one remote area a sister was prying one
day with two or three other Christians. Oddly, on that day she felt the sweeping
power of the Holy Spirit upon her. She had never had such an experience before.
Such a condition continued on for four to five months, during which period she
found it quite easy to touch God without the slightest effort - as though heaven
itself had drawn very close to her. And this went on until one day, as she read
the paper, she was shown by God that she had been wonderfully supplied by the
Revival. This is exactly what the Scripture means by saying that if one member is
honored all the other members rejoice with it. Let us realize this very thing, that
the body of Christ is a living entity: it is an organic life. Said Paul: "I...fill up on
my part that which is lacking in the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for His body's
sake which is the church" (Col. 1:24). Because we are in the one body, we can
therefore fill up that which is lacking in the other members.
Hence this is not just a matter of suffering and rejoicing, it is a matter of life.
Some people are able to supply life to the church; other people are able to
receive life through the church. We must have this life flow in both directions. On
the one side, we receive the supply of the body through fellowship;. on the other
side, we as members of the body supply life to others. Let us not apprehend the
body merely as a teaching or a way of explanation. Let us see that the body of
Christ is an absolute reality and that all the children of God being members one
of another is likewise an irrefutable fact. And in view of these certainties, we
should gladly receive help from others as well as earnestly seek to help other
brothers and sisters.

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com - Online Christian Library

The Body of Christ: A Reality

1. Life and Consciousness

Consciousness of God's Life

What is life's consciousness? A Christian who is occasionally overcome by sin

Body Consciousness a Facet of Life's Consciousness

The Teaching of the Body vs. Its Reality

In spiritual things, knowing doctrine without having consciousness is of no avail.

Life's consciousness is distinctive in that it enables you to know spontaneously

2. The Consciousness of the Body of Christ

In the previous chapter we came to understand a little how consciousness

Love the Brethren

Deliver From Independent Work

If we have body consciousness we will comprehend immediately that the body is

As soon as a Christian inwardly discerns the body of Christ he has no way or

See the Need for Fellowship

Oftentimes we need to learn fellowship in prayer, to learn fellowship in

3. Hold Fast the Head

The fellowship between Christians ought to be that which is related to Christ. We

4. The Service of the Member

God permits us to be individuals, but He does not allow us to be individualistic.

Let us seriously ask ourselves: Am I an independent individualist? Or am I a

5. The Function and Harmony of the Members

The Function of the Members

Satan's Work of Disintegration

What, in truth, is our understanding of oneness? Quite simply, oneness is God

The body of Christ is basically not a doctrine, neither is it a kind of arrangement,

6. Obeying the Law of the body of Christ

They therefore that were scattered abroad went about preaching

But when they believed Philip preaching good tidings concerning

Lay hands hastily on no man, neither be partaker of other men's

And as he journeyed, it came to pass that he drew near to

The Authority of Life

It is a serious blunder if, in a church, authority becomes a matter of position and

Imparting Gift Through the Laying On of Hands

Pray With Anointing

The sickness mentioned in James 5 is thus a special kind of sickness. How do we

The Revelation Paul Received at Repentance

The Judgment of the Brethren

As soon as a person receives salvation he should be brought immediately into

7. The Covering, Restraint, and Supply of the Body of Christ

Subjecting yourselves one to another in the fear of Christ. (Eph.

The Covering of the Body

We should understand that spiritual warfare belongs to the church, not to an

The Restraint of the Body

In spiritual things how we need to depend on other members and in so doing to

The Supply of the Body

The body possesses an inherent principle, which is fellowship. The fellowship of

8. Three Cardinal Principles on Living in the Body of Christ

My Relation to the Head (Christ) - Subjection

The meaning of my Christian consecration has to do with my desire to be

My Relationship to the Body (Church) - Fellowship

My Place As a Member - Service

Such a phenomenon can be illustrated by an occurrence which took place during

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