Will you please turn to Acts, the book of Acts, Chapter 2? We will read from Acts 2:42-47.
And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and the prayers.
And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.
And all that believed were together, and had all things common;
and they sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all, according as any man had need.
And day by day, continuing steadfastly with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread at home, they took their food with gladness and singleness of heart,
praising God, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to them day by day those that were saved.
Now turn to Romans, Chapter 12. We will read from Romans 12:3-11.
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 as to think soberly, according as God hath 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.
And having gifts differing according to the grace that was given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of our faith;
or ministry, let us give ourselves to our ministry; or he that teacheth, to his teaching;
or he that exhorteth, to his exhorting: he that giveth, let him do it with liberality; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that showeth mercy, with cheerfulness.
Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.
In love of the brethren be tenderly affectioned one to another; in honor preferring one another;
in diligence not slothful; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord.
May we have a word of prayer?
Dear Lord, our hearts are full of gratitude. The sinners such as we were are being called to attend Thy feast. We do thank Thee that Thou hast given Thyself to us in such a way.
Lord, what can we say? We just want to tell Thee how much we appreciate it. We do pray that all Thy purposes, which Thou hast purposed concerning us, will be fully fulfilled.
It is not for our sake, but, Lord, it is for Thy sake. If there is anything yet being undone, may Thy Holy Spirit do it now. We ask in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
I find it very difficult to speak after the Lord’s Table. At the Lord’s Table, we have before us a demonstration of the theme with which we are fellowshipping.
At the Table we see our Lord, how He gave Himself to us as the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world. And to us, He is more than that. He is the Lamb in the midst of the throne. His love has conquered us, and we cannot but worship Him. Jesus is truly Lord.
At the Table we break the same bread. Though we are many, yet we are one bread. We commune with the Head and with one another. Dear brothers and sisters, we see it this morning, and I hope in our spirit we do see it.
At the beginning of the eighteenth century, there was persecution in Europe, and many believers had to flee for their lives. A man by the name of Zinzendorf opened his estate to receive those refugees.
These refugees came from different countries, with different backgrounds. They all loved the Lord, and because of the Lord they forsook everything. Now these people gathered together on that estate, but strangely, they could not get along with one another.
But one day, when they all gathered together for the Lord’s Table, while they were at the Table, the love of Christ constrained them. They embraced one another and confessed to one another. On that day, an institution became a body.
And from that body, the gospel went to all the world. It is always my desire, and I always love to see, when God’s people are together at the Table, that we see only one thing: the love of Christ.
If you look into the heart of God, what do you see there? You see only one thing: His beloved Son. In the sanctuary of God’s heart, there is His Son. You cannot see anything else. Everything is for His Son. His Son is the heir of all things, and all things will be summed up in Him.
Dear brothers and sisters, have we seen the heart of God? But if you look into the heart of our Lord Jesus, what do you see there?
He loved the church, and gave Himself for her. This is the mystery of God: Christ the Head, and the church the Body.
How we need to love Christ, because He is the One Whom the Father loves. And how we need to love the church, because this is what our Lord loves. So what we are fellowshipping together is not something small. It is something that should occupy our whole life.
By doing that, we not only know our God, but we are also doing His will. Even though our responsibility is on the Body, I want brothers and sisters to understand that we should never, never lose sight of the Head.
We do not want to see the Body apart from the Head, because this is an affront to God. Jesus our Lord should occupy our whole being, and only in Christ Jesus do we see the Body, the church.
Always remember: this is something we should never, never forget. We only see the Body through the Head. The Body comes out of the Head, and the Body is for the Head.
We have been sharing on the vision of the Body. On the road to Damascus, the apostle Paul was given that heavenly vision. In that vision, first of all, he saw Christ. He did not see first the Body.
He saw that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ, the Lord, and to Him he yielded himself. This Damascus experience is for every one of us. Dear brothers and sisters, may every one of us see that Jesus is not Someone Who can be despised. He is your Lord, and you need to yield your whole life to Him, because He is worthy.
This vision should always fill our heart. But thank God, if you see Jesus as Lord, you will see His Body—that He has a Body, a mystical Body. Even though it is mystical, yet it is very real. It is a Body that covers the whole earth.
It includes all who believe in the Lord Jesus. And it is in that Body that He continues to teach and to do.
We remember that Luke wrote two books: the Gospel according to Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. In the Gospel according to Luke, he records how our Lord, in His incarnate Body, began to do and to teach.
Then he wrote the second book, Acts. At the beginning of that book he said, “The former treatise I made, O Theophilus, concerning all that Jesus began both to do and to teach.”
But now he is going to write another treatise. It is a continuation of the first one. The Lord Jesus continues to do and to teach, but it is in a different Body. It is in a corporate Body. It is in a mystical Body. It is in the church. That is the book of Acts.
We need also to catch that vision: that we not only belong to the Lord, but we also belong to one another. We have a direct, vertical relationship with the Head, and we also have a horizontal relationship with all our brothers and sisters.
On the second day, we fellowshipped on the calling of the Body. This vision is given to us not just for us to contemplate. It has a practical element in it. With the vision comes the calling.
God calls us to leave what was formerly ours and go to where He will show us. In other words, He is calling us to leave behind that which will hinder us from fulfilling the vision. He is calling us to follow Him that we may become that vision.
Vision is not just something for us to see. Vision is something for us to be. We are called to be the very vision that God has shown us.
In the third session, we shared on Body principles. This is our Body, and within the Body there are certain principles, or laws, which are inborn. These are not something added on as legal rules and regulations.
These principles are in the Body. It is a blessing if we know what they are and follow them. Then this Body will be a healthy Body.
Now, this morning, we would like to continue with Body living. We know our body is for living. What is the use of a body if it is not to live? The life that is in that body is to be lived out. If it is not lived out, then what is that life for?
Brothers and sisters, before we believed in the Lord Jesus, we had a soulish life. When God created man and breathed the breath of life into that clay, the Bible says man became a living soul.
By creation, we have that life which animates us, and this life enables us to think, to feel, and to will. So we are living souls, and this body of ours was used by this living soul. This body expresses this living soul.
Formerly, you used this body to express yourself. Your body was to serve your purpose. But now we are saved. We are redeemed by the precious blood of our Lord Jesus. Therefore, this body is no longer to serve our selfish purpose, and our body is no longer to serve sin.
We need to present our bodies as a living sacrifice to the Lord. These bodies of ours are now to be used to live out Christ. This is what this body is for.
Remember the apostle Paul’s words: “For to me to live is Christ.” “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I that live, but Christ liveth in me: and that life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith which is in the Son of God, Who loved me, and gave Himself up for me.”
You see, our bodies are to live out Christ. We have a new life in us, and this new life of Christ in us is to live out through our body, through our consecrated body. Thus Christ can live out today.
Now, this is not only true personally; it is also true collectively. It is more than just a matter of each individual Christian trying to live out Christ in his body. It is that we together, as the Body of Christ, live out the fullness of Christ.
No one individual is big enough to contain all the riches of Christ. All the fullness of the Godhead dwelleth in Him bodily. How can one individual contain all that fullness? It takes the whole Body to contain the riches of the Head.
It is only the Body that can express Christ in fullness. To live out Christ is not only an individual thing. If it is only individual, it is very, very limited. It takes the whole Body to live out the glory and beauty of the Head.
This Body of Christ is not only a way to contain, but also to express, the riches of the Head.
In the beginning, the name “Christian” was not there. Today we call ourselves Christians, but do you know where that name comes from? Actually, it was a nickname given to a group of people by the world.
It was in Antioch. Because there were so many Gentiles coming to the Lord, they could no longer be considered a sect of Judaism. The world looked at them and said, “Who are they?” Finally, they gave them a nickname: “They are Christians. They are Christ-men.”
Because when they opened their mouth, it was Christ. When they gathered together, it was Christ. When they sang hymns, it was Christ. When they prayed, they prayed to Christ. They lived for Christ. They were truly occupied with Christ.
At that time, it was a shameful name. You remember King Agrippa said, “With but little persuasion thou wouldest fain make me a Christian.” But to us now, it is glory.
If you read the book of Acts, you will find that in the beginning there were followers of the Lord Jesus. They were in Jerusalem, they were in Antioch, and they were everywhere. How would the world identify them?
The world always likes to put a label upon something, because without a label they cannot get hold of it. And if they cannot get hold of it, they feel a little threatened.
When the world looked at the followers of the Lord Jesus at that time, how did they describe these people? You find they called them “the people of the Way.”
In Acts 9:2, Saul came to the high priest and asked for letters to Damascus, to the synagogues, that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.
These people were people of the Way. You find this repeated several times in the book of Acts: Acts 19:9, Acts 19:23, Acts 22:4, and Acts 24:14, 22.
What does “the Way” mean? It means a way of life. Our Lord Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” The Way is a way of life.
When I first came to this country, I was meeting with a group of believers. Sometimes, when a few brothers and I were fellowshipping and discussing what should be done, some brothers from America would tell me, “This is not the American way.”
I often argued with them. I said, “It is not a matter of the American way or the Chinese way.” Every country has its way, and every way thinks that its own way is the best.
But here you find the Body. It is so different from all the countries of the world. It is composed of people out of every nation, every tribe, and every background. Yet when they are together, they live a different way—not the American way, not the Chinese way, not the European way.
The world had never seen such a way. It is different from every way you can think of in this world. In spite of differences of culture and background, when they come together as the Body of Christ, they rise above all these distinctions.
They are not bound by any of these customs. They follow a certain heavenly way. Of course, there may be some flavor. If a gathering is composed mostly of Chinese, perhaps it will be more quiet. If it is composed mostly of those from South America, perhaps it will be more lively.
But whether they are more reserved or more lively, you find there are certain basic similarities among us. They live a different way of life.
We are told that during the second century, some people tried to describe those Christians. They said, “Who are these people?” They were so different. Even though they lived in their native country, yet they were aliens and foreigners.
They kept the law of the country, but actually they lived above and beyond what the law required. They lived a life of righteousness and purity. They loved everybody, but they were hated by all.
Brothers and sisters, this is a way of life: the Christian way of life for all believers, at every age, and throughout the world. The Body has its way.
As believers, we live differently from the world. We live differently from the Chinese, differently from the Americans, and differently from the Brazilians. Wherever you put us, we are different, because we are walking the heavenly way.
Dear brothers and sisters, the Body is to live in this way, and this is our testimony. We would like to go to the Word of God and see what this way of life is, and whether we are really living in it.
If you look at the church in Jerusalem, when you think of this Way, you had better begin from the beginning. On the day of Pentecost, there were one hundred and twenty believers.
These one hundred and twenty believers had followed the Lord, perhaps for a few years. They were veterans. But in one Spirit they were baptized into one Body. Formerly they were just one hundred and twenty individuals; now they were one hundred and twenty members of the one Body of Christ.
When Peter stood up, the eleven apostles stood with him. He was the one who spoke, but the others stood by him to show, “What you say is what we say.” They were of one mind and one speech.
On the day of Pentecost, three thousand were added. They were new believers, and yet you find they were together. Whether you had believed in the Lord for many years or had just been newly born again, they were together.
They persevered in the teaching and fellowship of the apostles. What were these people doing? They continued in the teaching and fellowship of the apostles, because at that time it was the apostles who taught them.
What is the teaching of the apostles? Here you discover that “teaching” is singular, but “apostles” is plural. There were at least twelve apostles at that time, but the teaching was one.
It was not that Peter had his own teaching, John had his teaching, James had his teaching, and everyone had his teaching. You find that the teaching is one.
It is true that there were special emphases. We may say Peter was an apostle of faith, because his experience of Christ was one of faith. Many times he was disappointed. Many times he failed. He even denied the Lord three times, but the Lord restored him. Thus, in his teaching, faith is very evident.
We may say John was the apostle of love, because he leaned upon the breast of the Lord. He knew the love of Christ so much. When you read his Gospel and his epistles, you taste love.
It is true that each apostle had a special emphasis, yet the teaching was only one. Why? Because all that they taught was what they had received from the Lord.
Remember the apostle Paul said, “For I received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you.” The apostles had nothing of their own to teach. They did not have their own teaching. They only taught what they had been taught by the Lord.
The teaching is the teaching of Christ, but it was taught by different apostles.
Even Martin Luther considered the Epistle of James to be an epistle of straw. He said he could fight the Reformation with Galatians, but how could he fight with James? He thought that these two apostles taught different teachings.
But thank God, we know better. Whether it is Paul or James, Peter or John, they have only one teaching: the teaching of Christ, Jesus Christ. “For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.”
All these people continued in the teaching of Christ. Dear brothers and sisters, the problem today is that everyone seems to have his own teaching. Some people say, “I prefer this teaching,” and, “I prefer that teaching.”
Some say, “I am of Paul,” or, “I am of Apollos,” or, “I am of Cephas.” Some say, “I am exclusively of Christ.” Brothers and sisters, is Christ divided? Is His teaching divided? No. His teaching is one whole.
It is so full that it covers many, many areas, and yet it is one teaching. They followed the teaching of the apostles. That is the way to live the Body life.
How do we live this Body life? By the teaching of Christ. The Word tells us, and then we are in the Way. Hallelujah.
You find not only the teaching of the apostles, but also the fellowship of the apostles. Teaching alone may give you the impression that it is something merely for you to think about. But the fellowship of the apostles brings it into practice.
The teaching has to be balanced with the fellowship. Here again, you see the same thing. The apostles are plural, but the fellowship is one. It is not that Paul has his own fellowship and Peter has his own fellowship.
No matter how many apostles there are, what is that fellowship? In 1 Corinthians 1:9, we are all called into the fellowship of God’s Son, Jesus Christ.
We do not belong to this fellowship or that fellowship. This is the fellowship of God’s Son, Jesus Christ. It is His fellowship with His Father, and now this fellowship is extended to us. We are included in that fellowship.
Thus we may know God as our heavenly Father, and we may know Who the Son is and what He is to us. We have a part in Him. This is delivered to us through the apostles.
In 1 John 1, John said that what they had seen and heard, they reported unto us, that we also may have fellowship with them; and truly their fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.
They had fellowship with the Father and the Son, and they delivered that fellowship to us, that we might have fellowship with them and share their fellowship with the Father and the Son. It is one fellowship.
Dear brothers and sisters, thank God we come here together. We can talk together. We can pray for each other. We can practice what we are taught in fellowship. That is Body life. That is how we live in the Body.
There are especially two things in which this fellowship is very clearly demonstrated. One is the breaking of bread. Why do we break bread? The breaking of bread is not only following the teaching, but also practicing the fellowship of the apostles.
Our Lord Jesus said, “This do in remembrance of Me.” As we break bread together, we have communion with the Lord and with one another. It is in the Spirit.
Brothers and sisters, the Lord’s Table is very, very important to us. Unfortunately, among Christians today, the Lord’s Table is very much neglected. By taking part at the Lord’s Table, we demonstrate that we live in the Body.
We have communion with the Head and communion with the members of the same Body. Before we break the bread, the bread represents the physical Body of Christ. In that Body, He was broken for us. It is a demonstration of His love for us. He gave Himself to us to be our life and to be our food.
But after we have broken the bread, even though the bread on the plate has disappeared, when God looks down from heaven, He sees the bread among the people. Every one of us has a piece, and putting them together is the bread. That is the church: one bread, one Body.
We are all partaking of that one bread. So every Lord’s Day, we demonstrate our Body living.
Another thing that expresses our Body living is prayer. The prayer here is not our personal prayer. Of course, personally we need to pray. But the prayer here is corporate prayer. We come together to pray as one.
“If two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of My Father Who is in heaven.” Of course, this is according to His will.
Brothers and sisters, this is something being neglected among God’s people. Usually, on the Lord’s Day, some people come only for the message. At the Lord’s Table there may be only a few, but after the Lord’s Table, when the message begins, the place is filled.
Then during the week you have a prayer meeting, and you find only a few brothers and sisters there. Most people do not care about it. How can you say that you are living the Body life if you do not join together in prayer?
Brothers and sisters, it is most important that we come together and pray as one Body. These are the two most practical matters in which we continue in the teaching and fellowship of the apostles.
When you read Acts 2, what do you see there? How did these people live? You find that they were together. They were not only together physically; they were together in spirit and in soul. With one accord, they were together.
You find that they were completely delivered from self-possessiveness. A very basic human instinct is self-possessiveness. “This is mine. It belongs to me.” You can see it in children when they are playing together: “This is mine,” and, “This is mine.”
We have the instinct to possess, but here you find something wonderful. They were all delivered from self-possessiveness. They were delivered from that individualistic idea.
They were together. They loved one another. They were one. They broke bread. They met together in the temple, probably in Solomon’s porch, and they met together from house to house. They broke bread from house to house, and they enjoyed their food with thankfulness.
They lived in such a way that the world looked at them and had never seen such a scene before. It was their way of life that affected people, more than just the preaching. It was their lives together that touched people’s hearts.
Of course, Jerusalem had its peculiar circumstances. On the day of Pentecost, Jews came from all over the world to attend the feast. But when they believed in the Lord Jesus, many did not go back to their homes. They all stayed in Jerusalem.
Those who lived in Jerusalem opened their homes. “My home is yours. Come and live.” They shared food together, and because of the need, some people sold their property so that the need might be met.
Brothers and sisters, whether we should practice having everything in common is another matter. But during revivals, such things usually happen. If there is a need, such things happen.
The important thing is this: are we delivered from our individualism? Are we so delivered that we can see that we are members and really love one another, not merely in words?
This is a Christian way of life. This is Body living. When the Body lives in this way, it is healthy and begins to grow. Many were added.
The same thing happened in Antioch. If you turn to Acts 11, you find that when the gospel was spread to Antioch, in the beginning the Jewish believers preached only to Jews.
But there were Greeks among them, perhaps devout Greeks who had been at Jerusalem during Pentecost. Some of them believed in the Lord Jesus. When they went to Antioch, somehow they preached to the Greeks, and the Holy Spirit began to work. Many turned to the Lord.
When the church in Jerusalem heard about it, they sent Barnabas there. I think it is very interesting that they did not send Peter or John. They did not send someone to tell them, “Now you must come under our way. Antioch is the daughter church, and you come under our jurisdiction.” No.
They sent Barnabas, a Levite, a Hebrew Jew, who would understand these people better. He was a man with a large heart. He was the son of consolation.
He was sent, not in the sense of trying to absorb the church in Antioch, but rather to show sympathy. We want to help one another. He was full of the Holy Spirit, and he helped them.
When he saw the grace of God, he was glad. He was not envious; he was glad. He encouraged them all that with purpose of heart they should cleave unto the Lord.
As more people were added, Barnabas realized that the work was too much for him. So he went to Tarsus to find Saul and brought him to Antioch to work together with him.
Barnabas did not say, “This is my territory. It is mine. Nobody can come.” No. He realized his limitation. He was humble enough to ask a younger brother to come and help.
For one year, Barnabas and Saul were gathered with the church and taught much people. These people believed in the Lord Jesus. They were taught, they grew spiritually, and they manifested Christ in such a corporate way that the world said, “These are Christians.”
Brothers and sisters, ultimately we are called Christians. Do we earn it? Are we worthy of it? Sometimes I think I am not worthy to be called a Christian.
Here in the book of Acts, we have these examples of Body living. How I thank God that before the epistles, you have the Gospels and the book of Acts. This is the way God always works.
He does it first, and then He teaches us and tells us what has happened. This is the right order. If you reverse the order, and first teach, there is always the problem of trying to put the teaching into practice by your flesh. That turns it into law.
But here you find first the life, and then God tells you what that life is. The potential of that life is already there. Everything comes out instead of being put on.
Our problem is that everything is put on, and it is not something that comes out from within. Then it is man-made; it is not a matter of life.
Here we see how God’s people lived together as the Body, and then the epistles began to teach us and tell us what had happened. We should follow this life and grow and grow.
If you turn to Romans, you find that Romans is full of teaching on Body living. Usually, you find that the first part of each letter is on life, and the second part is on our living.
God does not teach us how to live before we have life, because if that is the case, then we are trying to act like something that we are not. Brothers and sisters, this is not so.
When you read the epistles, they tell us what that life is. The first eleven chapters of Romans tell us what God has done for us in Christ Jesus and what Christ is to us.
After we have received all the mercies of God, then we are exhorted and encouraged. Romans 12 begins: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice.”
After you present your body as a living sacrifice, then what happens? You discover that you are now in the Body. How are you going to live that Body life? Do not be high-minded. Do not look upon yourself as bigger than what you really are, but think soberly.
Do not think that you are the Body. You are only a member of the Body. Be faithful as a member. If God gives you the gift of prophecy, prophesy according to the proportion of faith.
If God makes you a member to serve, then serve diligently. Every member does its part, and it is all for the increase of the Body. Love one another in brotherly love, and let us serve the Lord diligently.
Dear brothers and sisters, this is living the Body life. You are not just living alone, and everything is not just for your own self. You are living with other members of the Body. We need to love one another and encourage one another.
If you continue with the book of Romans, you find that we need to receive one another, as Christ also received us, to the glory of God.
This is something in which we have failed very much. We do not receive one another. If our brother or sister has a different understanding of the Word of God, or a different experience from ours, we say, “You are not of us. We cannot receive you.”
How we need to receive one another as Christ has received us, to the glory of God.
If you read 1 Corinthians, you find that the believers in Corinth lived in a way opposite to the very principles of Body life. But thank God, through the negative we learn the positive.
In 1 Corinthians 1-4, you find division. God’s people were divided. Some said, “I am of Paul.” Others said, “I am of Apollos.” Others said, “I am of Cephas.” Others said, “I am of Christ.”
Some said, “Paul brought me to the Lord, so I am for him.” Others said, “Apollos helped me with his teaching, so I follow Apollos.” Some said, “Peter is the orthodox one because he came from Jerusalem and was one of the apostles. We trace to the true orthodoxy.”
Some people were super-spiritual. “I love Christ. Christ is bigger than Peter. He is more orthodox. He is bigger than Paul.” But the Word asks, “Is Christ divided?” Why are you so small? Paul is yours. Apollos is yours. Everything is yours. And you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.
Brothers and sisters, this is not Body living. In Christ, we are one.
Then you continue from 1 Corinthians 5-7. You find that these people, who were called Christians, lived to the shame of the Lord Jesus. There was sin in their midst that you could not even find in the world. They sued one another in the Gentile courts. They were very loose in their living. Certainly, this is not Body living.
What is Body living? “Our Passover also hath been sacrificed, even Christ.” Now we are keeping the feast of unleavened bread. The church is like three measures of meal offered to the Lord. Therefore, purge out the leaven.
We must live our life as with unleavened bread, with sincerity and truth. Brothers and sisters, this is what the church should be in Body life. There should be no leaven. All the leaven has to be purged out, that we may keep the feast in purity.
Then you find in 1 Corinthians 8-9 that the Corinthians indulged themselves. They wanted to enjoy life. They enjoyed good food and wanted to have parties. So they went to the temple and ate things offered to idols.
They had knowledge, but there was no discipline. Paul said, “I buffet my body, and bring it into bondage.” If food makes my brother stumble, I would rather not eat it. I must live by love, not merely by knowledge.
In 1 Corinthians 10-14, you find confusion. At the breaking of bread there was confusion. In the beginning, they often put the love feast and the Lord’s Table together. But the love feast became something wild.
Those who were rich ate by themselves and drank wine until they were drunken, while those who were poor had nothing. Then afterward they broke bread together. Is that not a contradiction?
From that time on, you find that those two things were separated. From this confusion we learn that our God is the God of order. There is a spiritual order.
The Head of Christ is God. The head of every man is Christ. The head of the woman is the man. There is order—not inequality. So far as life is concerned, there is equality; but so far as order is concerned, God has set things in order. With that order, His work can be done.
Then in 1 Corinthians 15-16, some people even doubted whether there was a resurrection. If you doubt the resurrection, you can live loosely: “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”
Brothers and sisters, there was rebellion. But in the church, the life of the church is faith and obedience.
We can go on and on, but our time is up. The Bible has much to say about Body living. But remember: the living is not something put on; it is something lived out.
The more you know the life of Christ, the more you are able to live out Christ. This is true individually and also corporately.
May the Lord help us, that this matter of the Body may be a reality to us. It is heavenly, but it can be practiced on earth, to the glory of God.
Dear Lord, we want to thank Thee for all Thy mercies and grace. Thou hast gathered us together these few days, and now Thou art with us. How we praise and thank Thee for everything Thou hast blessed us with.
Now, as we are going to our different places, we pray that we may go rejoicing in the Lord. We pray that Thy Holy Spirit will continue to remind us of what we have seen and heard, that nothing may be lost, but that it will bear fruit unto Thy praise.
And now, to God be the glory. In the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.