Please turn to 1 Corinthians 12. We will read from verses 12 through 27.
For even as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of the body, being many, are one body; so also is Christ.
For in one Spirit were we all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether bond or free; and were all made to drink of one Spirit.
For the body is not one member, but many.
If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; it is not therefore not of the body.
And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; it is not therefore not of the body.
If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling?
But now hath God set the members each one of them in the body, even as it pleased Him.
And if they were all one member, where were the body?
But now they are many members, but one body.
And the eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of thee: or again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.
Nay, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be more feeble are necessary:
and those parts of the body, which we think to be less honorable, upon these we bestow more abundant honor; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness;
whereas our comely parts have no need: but God tempered the body together, giving more abundant honor to that part which lacked;
that there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.
And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.
Now ye are the body of Christ, and severally members thereof.
Let us have a word of prayer.
Dear Lord, we do rejoice in Thy presence. We thank Thee that it pleases Thee to be with us. We pray, Lord, as we are here in Thy presence, that Thou wilt once again speak to us.
Lord, we pray that our hearts may all be open to Thee, so that Thy word may really fall into good ground and bear fruit a hundredfold for Thy glory. We ask in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
By now, I think everybody knows that our theme is the head and the body: Christ the Head, the church the body.
I have been asked, “Why do we choose this theme?” Dear brothers and sisters, as we are approaching the end of all things, it is time for us to return to the beginning. Because the end is for the beginning.
What God purposed in Himself before the foundation of the world shall all be accomplished at the end. So it is right for us who live in the end time to go back to the very beginning—not only to see what was in the beginning, but also to see whether the end will reach the beginning.
Before the foundation of the world, God purposed in Christ Jesus, according to His good pleasure, that all things would be summed up in Christ. This is the mystery of God, a mystery hidden throughout the ages; but thank God, now it has been revealed to us by the Holy Spirit.
Before the foundation of the world, God also purposed in Christ Jesus to give His Son a bride, one who would share everything with Him. This is also a mystery. It is called the mystery of the Christ. It was hidden throughout the ages, but thank God, it has now been revealed to us by the Holy Spirit through the holy apostles and prophets.
So this is the very beginning. In the very beginning, there was such a glorious purpose. In that purpose there is Christ, and with Christ, the church. The whole Bible is this revelation.
I remember when I was young, I was told that if we catch a vision of Christ and the church, then the whole Bible is an open book to us. Because the whole Bible tells us of Christ and His church.
So, dear brothers and sisters, we feel that it is very important, as we come to the very end, that we should be reminded of what was in the beginning. What is it that God is really after? And how much is this real in our lives?
We mentioned Paul’s heavenly vision. On the road to Damascus, he saw a vision, and that vision changed his whole life. It changed his direction, it changed his goal, and it gave him strength to endure hardship.
That one thing explains his whole life and ministry. He could testify, “O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision.”
Now, dear brothers and sisters, this heavenly vision is not just for Paul. It is a vision given to all of us. What was it that Paul saw in that heavenly vision?
He saw Christ, the glorious One. Jesus of Nazareth is now Lord and Christ of all. When he saw Jesus as Lord, he yielded completely to Him and allowed Jesus to be the Lord of his life.
Brothers and sisters, we need to see this vision. We need to see that Jesus is Lord. He is the Lord of all, and He is the Lord of our lives. If we really see it in our spirit, we cannot help but yield our whole lives to Him and allow Him to be Lord of all.
After Paul saw Jesus as Lord, he found that this Lord was related to a great number of people. The Lord said, “Why persecutest thou Me?” Saul had touched the members of the body of Christ; therefore, he had touched the Head. The Head and the body are one.
On the road to Damascus, Paul also caught a vision of the body of Christ. When he entered the city of Damascus, he learned the reality and relatedness of the members of the body of Christ. He received help from another member of that body, and by that help he came to know God’s will for him.
The body was not a theory to him. It was very real to him.
So, dear brothers and sisters, we too need to catch that vision. We need, through Christ, to see the body; but never see the body without Christ. If we try to see the body without Christ, first of all, it is no longer a body—it is something else.
It is only in Christ that we see the body, and we need to live in that body. This is why we feel that we need to fellowship together on this theme.
My part is on the body. But again, I want to remind brothers and sisters that we consider the body only within the context of the Head.
The first morning, we mentioned that we need to catch a vision of the body because God’s purpose for us is not just personal and individual. God’s purpose for us is corporate.
We tend to be very individualistic, brothers and sisters, even in spiritual pursuit. We pursue along the individual line: “How can I be spiritual?” We want to be spiritual giants. We want to be monuments for people to look at and admire.
But this is not God’s purpose. God’s purpose is corporate. He wants us to see the body, and to know that we are members in that body. This will deliver us from our individualism and enlarge our horizon.
The second morning, we considered this matter of body calling. We find that vision and calling go together. When God, in His mercy, gives us a vision, with that vision God always has a calling for us.
When we see this vision of Christ and the church, we find that we are called into that vision. Calling is nothing but being called to enter into the vision that we see.
Vision is not just something abstract, something so heavenly that you cannot touch it. Vision is very practical. It is to be practiced in the body. Our calling and vision are actually one. We are called into that vision so that we may be part of that vision and that vision may become real in our lives.
We mentioned also that many are called, but few are chosen. We are all called to be the body of Christ.
Our natural concept of calling is not only personal but also related to what we are called to do. If I am called, first of all I ask, “What am I called to do?” But, brothers and sisters, this is secondary.
The primary thing in our calling is that we are called to be. We are called to be the body of Christ. It is only in being the body of Christ that we find there are things to be done, and everything that is done is for this body.
We need to see this so that we may respond to our calling. As we respond to our calling, we will be chosen. That is to say, the calling will become real in our lives.
This morning we would like to go a little further. We know that we are called to be the body of Christ. Now we must remember that the body of Christ is not just a figure of speech.
We often think of the body of Christ as a metaphor. Here is my human body, and God uses the human body to tell us what the body of Christ is about. But then we may think that the body of Christ is not really real; it is just a figure of speech, a kind of explanation.
But if you read the word of God, you will find that the word of God never presents the body of Christ merely as a figure of speech. The Bible does not say that the church is like a body. It says that the church is the body of Christ.
For instance, in Ephesians 1:22-23, God made Christ “head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all.” It does not say that the church is like a body. It simply says, “the church, which is His body.”
So do not take this term, “the body of Christ,” as merely a descriptive figure of speech. Before we receive revelation from above, that is the way we tend to look at the body of Christ. We think the church is like our human body, but not really real—just a way of describing something.
But, dear brothers and sisters, if you receive revelation from above, you begin to see that the body of Christ is so real. It is even more real than our human body.
To put it another way, our physical body is only a physical picture of the body of Christ. Spiritual things are real; physical things are not as real. Physical things are temporary, and they are changing all the time.
But when you come to spiritual things, you know they are real because they are the substance, not the shadow. They are eternal. They never change. Spiritual things are the real things.
Therefore our Lord said, “I am the true vine.” You can look at a physical vine, but it will fade away. Christ is the true vine, and that vine is forever. We are the branches, and our relationship with Him will never change. It is permanent, eternal, and everlasting.
Everything physical is just a type, a shadow, of the spiritual. But we need revelation for this. With our natural eyes, we see the physical as real and the spiritual as unreal. But thank God, when He opens our inner eyes and we see what is in the spiritual realm, then we begin to realize that only spiritual things are real. All physical things will pass away.
So, dear brothers and sisters, the body of Christ is not a metaphor. The body of Christ is so real that we need to use our physical body to try to describe it. For this reason, we need revelation. May God give us the spirit of wisdom and revelation unto the full knowledge of Him.
Now, brothers and sisters, if it is a body, then it cannot be an organization. It must be an organism. It must be living. It is not something dead.
When we think of the church, what really is our understanding? Probably, to most people, the church is an organization—something that we can organize, something that human beings can bring into being. But, dear brothers and sisters, whatever man organizes is dead. It is mechanical. It is technical.
Only what God has done is an organism. It is living.
I remember many years ago, when I was visiting England, I visited Westminster Abbey. Westminster is very famous, and so I visited that place.
Do you know what my impression was when I left? Westminster was supposed to be a church. But when you visit it, you walk over a place bearing the names of the dead. In different corners there are coffins, and there are memorials to famous men who have died.
After my visit to Westminster Abbey, I said, “This is not the church of the living God. This is the church of the dead.” It is an organization. It is an institution. It is a religion. It is not real. It is not living.
You do not sense the presence of the Lord there, but you sense the presence of many who have died. It really gives you a strange feeling.
Brothers and sisters, what is the church? It is the body of Christ. It is living. It is the church of the living God. It is not something dead. It is not something man can organize. It is not an institution.
Now, because it is an organism and not an organization, that does not mean there is no order. We think of an organization and ask, “How do we organize it?” We lay down rules and regulations so that the organization can run smoothly.
Without such rules and regulations, how can an organization function? Everything is imposed from outside. Rules and regulations are put upon an organization in order that it may run smoothly.
But when you think of an organism, does it mean that because it is not an organization there is no order? No. Actually, you will find that the order in an organism is even stricter than the order in an organization.
An organism has certain principles, certain laws, that are inherent within it. These laws are not something you put upon it and carry out mechanically. In a living organism there are certain laws and principles that are born with it.
It is something you need to discover and follow. If you follow these principles, the organism will be healthy. If you violate these principles, you corrupt the body.
So, dear brothers and sisters, as we are talking about the body of Christ, because it is a living organism, there are certain principles and laws within that organism. We need to know these principles; otherwise, we may unconsciously violate them. In violating them, we are actually destroying the body.
This morning, we would like to mention several of these principles. But remember: these principles and laws are not something imposed upon the body. They are naturally—indeed, supernaturally—within it.
All we need to do is discover them. We do not invent them. We discover them, and we follow them. If we do, we will find a very healthy body.
The first principle of the body is life. I think it is very evident. If it is not an organization, life is not necessarily involved. But if it is a body, immediately you think of life.
We are born into the body. How are we in the body? Can we join it? With an organization, you can join it. Any organization requires you to join, and it may lay down certain conditions for your joining.
But the wonderful thing is this: in the body of Christ, there is no way to join it. You have to be born into it.
“He that is born of the Spirit is spirit.” Unless we are born again, we do not see the kingdom of God. But if we believe in the Lord Jesus, if we believe in His name, we are given the right to become children of God. We are born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
Thank God that the body of Christ is something into which we are born.
Remember John 19. When our Lord Jesus was crucified, John was the only disciple there. After our Lord passed away, because the next day was the Sabbath, according to their custom no body should remain on the tree during the Sabbath.
So the soldiers came and broke the leg bones of the two robbers, because they were strong and had not yet died. Their bones had to be broken to hasten their death.
But when the soldier came to the Lord Jesus, he noticed that the Lord was already dead. Instead of breaking His bones, in fulfilment of prophecy, a soldier pierced the side of our Lord with a spear, most likely reaching His heart.
Out of His broken heart came blood and water. John saw this, and he said, “He that hath seen hath borne witness, and his witness is true.” He made it very emphatic, as though he had seen something of great importance.
Why was this so? Our Lord Jesus had His side pierced, and out of His side came blood and water. The blood was for the remission of our sins, and the water was to give us life.
With the blood and water, God has the materials for the church. Because of His death, His blood was shed and His life was released. Our sins may be forgiven, and we may receive His life. With that life, we become the body of Christ.
So, brothers and sisters, when you think of the body of Christ, first of all you see the principle of life. Everything in that body is life. There is no death in it. It is resurrection. Death has been overcome.
Our Lord entered into death, robbed death of its power, and came out of it holding in His hand the keys of death and Hades. He is the living One.
That is what the body of Christ is. The body of Christ is built upon the principle of life. It is not just any kind of life; it is the life of Christ.
To put it another way, the body of Christ is made of Christ Himself. He is the One who brings the body into being. That is why, in 1 Corinthians 12:12, it says:
For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of the body, being many, are one body; so also is Christ.
The body is one, yet there are many members. The members are many, yet there is one body. We might say, “So also is the church.” But the Holy Spirit says, “So also is Christ.”
Why? Because the body is none other than the extension of Christ Himself. He is the substance of the body.
Do not think that this is merely theory. This is a very basic and important principle. What is the body of Christ? Is it simply you and me?
People say, “We know the church is not a building. We know the church is not an organization. The church is all the called-out ones gathered together.” Is that right? It is right in one sense, because the church is the called-out ones gathered together. God has called a people out of the world, and they gather together under the name of our Lord Jesus.
But if you go a little deeper, you will find that this is not absolutely true. Why? Because in the church, you do not always find Christ there; you find yourself there too.
If it were only Christ there, there would be no problem. But look at the church today—there are many problems. Does Christ have problems? Of course not. But we bring in the problem.
Strictly speaking, what is the church? The church is Christ.
Many years ago, Brother Sparks, Brother Fong, and I were all speaking in a certain country. If you knew Brother Sparks, you knew that with him everything was spiritual. Do not touch the earth; if you touch the earth, you defile it.
I was trying to explain the church, so I turned to Brother Sparks and said, “Brother, you have to forgive me, because I am going to use a formula.” With him, formulas were taboo, but I had to use one as an illustration.
I said, “What is the church? Suppose there are only three Christians on the earth: Peter, John, and James. When you put these three names together, can you say that this is the church?”
We would say, “No, that is not the church. The church is the Christ in Peter, plus the Christ in John, plus the Christ in James.” But even that is not enough.
What is the church? The church is the Christ in Peter minus Peter, the Christ in John minus John, and the Christ in James minus James. That is the body of Christ.
Do not think that in the body of Christ you should find you, me, and Jesus. On the Mount of Transfiguration, Peter said, “It is good for us to be here: if Thou wilt, I will make here three tabernacles; one for Thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
But when Peter said that, God removed Moses and Elijah. They saw no one but Jesus only. Brothers and sisters, that is the church.
The church is not something we can take lightly. It is not something we can play with. What is the church? It demands that we allow the cross to cross us out.
When we come together, the cross should already have done its work. What we bring is nothing but Christ Himself.
Why is there so much noise in the church—the sound of hammers and the sound of iron? It is because we bring ourselves together with Christ. We have not allowed the cross to deal with us beforehand.
The church, the body of Christ, is a serious matter. How we need the cross to work in our lives so that it will be Christ only.
That is the first principle. Anything that is not of life corrupts the body. Anything that is not of Christ destroys the body.
Brothers and sisters, we need to repent before the Lord. How often we violate this first principle of the body. How we need to be in fear and trembling, lest we bring ourselves into the church.
The second principle of the church is the Holy Spirit. In 1 Corinthians 12:13, we read:
For in one Spirit were we all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether bond or free; and were all made to drink of one Spirit.
Dear brothers and sisters, how is it that we are the body of Christ?
When the Word became flesh and tabernacled among men, full of grace and truth, God the Son, as the Word, came into this world and took upon Himself human flesh. In that incarnate body, He lived for thirty-three years. In that body He spoke, and in that body He accomplished the redemptive work.
Then our Lord was buried. On the third day, He was raised from the dead. After forty days, He ascended into heaven.
Ten days later, on the day of Pentecost, one hundred and twenty believers were gathered together in the upper room in Jerusalem. They had been praying together for ten days.
On the day of Pentecost, suddenly there came a sound as of the rushing of a mighty wind, and it filled the whole house. Tongues as of fire rested upon the heads of the one hundred and twenty, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.
Usually, when we think of Pentecost, we are attracted by the sound and the sight. We want to see the sound and sight repeated. We think that was Pentecost.
But no, these are secondary, and they change. What is the real meaning of Pentecost? It is explained in 1 Corinthians 12:13: “In one Spirit were we all baptized into one body.”
How did one hundred and twenty individuals become one body? How could hundreds of members become one body? It is a tremendous transformation. How did it come about? In one Spirit they were baptized into one body, and they were all made to drink of the same Spirit.
So, dear brothers and sisters, the very formation of the body of Christ is through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit dwells in that body.
From the very beginning to the very end, you will find that it is the Holy Spirit who leads the way.
If you read the New Testament, you will find something very striking. According to the word of God, we who are called out must be gathered together. We need to meet together. It is not good for us to be isolated. We should be together.
But it is very strange that the New Testament does not tell us how to meet. The only place you can find some indication is in 1 Corinthians 14.
God does not tell us how to meet because the Holy Spirit is there. He is the One guiding and leading. He will teach us what to do.
There are no rules and regulations given. There is no program laid down for us. How do we meet? If you do not believe that the Holy Spirit is present, representing Christ, then we are lost.
Even though mentally we believe that the Holy Spirit is here, as a matter of fact we often do not allow Him to do anything. We have to work everything out. We have to program it. We have to lay down rules and regulations so that everything may move smoothly.
We do not see the authority of the Holy Spirit.
The opposite of the Holy Spirit is the flesh. If we are not following the Holy Spirit, then we are following the flesh. If we follow the flesh, it is death. If we follow the Holy Spirit, it is life and peace.
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of life. He is the law of the Spirit of life. He is the One who brings Christ into us. He is the One who begets us with the life of Christ. He is the One who glorifies Christ in us. He is the One who teaches us of Christ and transforms us according to Christ.
He is the One who guides and leads us as we meet together. He is the One who directs our functioning. Brothers and sisters, it is the Holy Spirit. This is the principle of the body.
Oh, how we neglect the Holy Spirit. Even though today people seem to be seeking the Holy Spirit, forgive me for saying this: often what they seek is not the Holy Spirit. They seek the power of the Holy Spirit. They do not see the Person, the Holy Spirit.
They just want His power. They do not want His control. Indeed, I can go a step further: many are not even seeking the power of the Holy Spirit; they are seeking an experience. They are seeking speaking in tongues.
I believe in speaking in tongues, but do all speak in tongues? The Holy Spirit as the divine Person is neglected.
Dear brothers and sisters, how we need to pay our respect to the Holy Spirit. Not only in our daily life, but we need to learn to obey the teaching of the anointing within us. This is the only way we can abide in Christ.
Even in the body life, how we need to be guided by the Holy Spirit. How we need to wait for Him to guide and lead us as to what we should do.
This is holding fast the Head, because the Head is represented in us by the Holy Spirit. That is what the body is all about.
May the Lord really have mercy upon us and show us how much we need to know the Holy Spirit as the divine Person. This will transform our personal lives, and it will transform our assembly life.
If it is not the Holy Spirit, how we need to deny our flesh. In the church today, we find so much flesh: your flesh, my flesh; your opinion, my opinion; your will, my will.
Brothers and sisters, we see flesh everywhere, but we do not see the holy anointing. We need to seek the Lord and follow the principle of the Holy Spirit, because this is the principle of the body of Christ.
The principle of the body is love. God is love. If it is Christ, and if it is the Holy Spirit, then He has shed abroad that love within our hearts.
Brothers and sisters, what the Lord is looking for in the church is love. In the early church, there was such a good testimony because, when the world looked at them, it saw how they loved one another.
Is this our testimony? Today, in the church, the church is almost like a court. Here we argue with one another and defend ourselves.
But the church is a family. It is the household of God. In a household, love is the principle.
Brothers and sisters, this is not merely love of any kind. It is not our natural love. Our natural love has its limits. It is the love of God.
Oh, how we need to be filled with the love of God. When the love of God fills our hearts, then we cannot help but love Him and love one another.
You know, on the night of His betrayal, our Lord Jesus loved His own, and He loved them unto the end. He expressed His love by washing His disciples’ feet. Then He gave us a new commandment: “Love one another, even as I have loved you.”
Dear brothers and sisters, what God is looking for in us is first love. You may give God anything and everything, but if there is no love, you will be rejected.
His word to the church in Ephesus was, “You have all these things, but you have left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent.”
Brothers and sisters, may we ask the Lord to fill us with love.
In 1 Corinthians 8, it says, “Knowledge puffeth up, but love edifieth.” How we seek for knowledge. Some of the Corinthians had knowledge. They knew that there is only one God and that idols are nothing.
Therefore, they thought that if they went to the temple and ate things offered to idols, they could freely eat because idols were nothing. But they did not know that there were weak Christians who had formerly been idol worshipers, and their consciences would be wounded.
Here you find knowledge, but not love. For my brother’s sake, I have to forgo meat—not because there is something wrong with meat, but because of love for the brother.
Brothers and sisters, the principle of the body is love.
That is the reason why, in 1 Corinthians, chapter 12 speaks of the body, chapter 14 speaks of the body working, and chapter 13 speaks of love. This is the more excellent way.
We usually say 1 Corinthians 13 is a chapter on love in general, because it begins, “Love suffereth long.” But it is not telling us merely of love in general. It tells us of love in the church.
In the church, the first expression of love is longsuffering. We may say, “I suffer enough in society. Now I come to the church so that I can really enjoy myself.” But you may find that you suffer more in the church than in the world.
The world does not know God, so when people do something wrong to you, you understand. But in the church, when brothers and sisters—especially those you expect more from—do something to you, you may say, “This is unforgivable. How can you dare do this? I cannot suffer this.”
But what is love? Love suffers long and is kind. You repay it with kindness. Is that not what our Lord did on the cross?
They said, “Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him.” And the Lord said, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”
This is the Spirit of Christ, which is love. Dear brothers and sisters, let us see that love fills the house.
When you are really filled with the knowledge of God, you are filled with His love. This is what you find in Ephesians 3.
The fourth principle of the body is holiness. God is holy; therefore, we need to be holy.
What is holiness? What stands opposite to holiness? We say sin stands opposite to righteousness. What is the opposite of holiness? The opposite of holiness is the world—that is, commonness.
Holiness means set apart for God. It means separated.
Dear brothers and sisters, this body of Christ is separated from the whole world. The world has never seen such a body. God calls people out of the world and gathers them into one body.
That body is characterized by holiness: completely separated and wholly devoted to the Lord under the headship of Christ. That is holiness.
But today we find how the world has invaded the church. The church adopts all the ways of the world, and you cannot even distinguish what is of God and what is of the world.
There is more world in the church than in the world itself. There is more worldliness. Brothers and sisters, this is corrupting the body of Christ.
We need to be before the Lord and see whether we have brought the world into the church and diluted the purity of the church.
Ezekiel 43 says:
This is the law of the house: upon the top of the mountain the whole limit thereof round about shall be most holy. Behold, this is the law of the house.
Holiness is the law of the house. So, dear brothers and sisters, we need to see the body of Christ as a holy body, with a holy Head.
That is what the Lord is doing with us. He will wash us with the water of the word, that we may be sanctified. There will be no spot, no wrinkle, nor any such thing. We will be presented to Him as a glorious church without spot or wrinkle.
The fifth principle of the church is unity: one body, many members, but one body.
Dear brothers and sisters, how important it is that we diligently keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. That is Ephesians 4:3. How can we walk worthily of the calling wherewith we have been called? We need to diligently keep the unity of the Spirit.
What is the unity of the Spirit? One body, one Spirit, one hope of our calling. These are related to God the Holy Spirit. One Lord, one faith, one baptism: these are related to God the Son. One God and Father of all: this is related to God the Father.
You find that our unity is in God. Our unity is not in man. Man cannot be united, but our unity is in God, and God has already given us that unity.
It is called the unity of the Spirit because we are all in one body. We are all baptized into one body by the Holy Spirit, and the hope of the body is one.
When the body is fully grown, it will become the bride of the Lamb. We all share this hope.
We have one Lord, our Lord Jesus Christ; one baptism, for we are baptized unto His name; and one faith, for we believe that He is the Christ, the Son of the living God.
We also have one God and Father of us all. To the world, He is God; but to us, He is God and Father. We all share the same Father, the same Spirit, the same Christ, and the same God. We are one.
Oh, brothers and sisters, what God has given to us is so precious that we need to keep it diligently. Do not allow it to slip away.
If we stand upon this unity, then in spite of all differences we continue to fellowship with one another, to share Christ with one another, and to keep the bond of peace.
Then the day shall come when we shall arrive at the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God.
The unity of the faith is our basic faith: that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. It is the faith once for all delivered unto the saints.
As to all the truths in the Bible, one day we will arrive at that unity. We will understand the truths alike, and we will experience the Son of God alike.
At present we experience Christ differently. Beyond the basic experience of regeneration, we have various degrees of experiencing Christ. One day we will arrive there. We have not arrived there yet, but we will arrive there if we diligently keep the unity of the Spirit.
Do not reject one another. Continue to share Christ with one another. Then one day we will arrive. We will grow up. We will be mature.
Brothers and sisters, it is very important to see the unity of the body. Is Christ divided?
The sixth principle of the body is coordination: one body, but many members.
We need to see variety in unity. That is the wonder of God. In the world, you cannot achieve unity without uniformity. But God can achieve unity with variety.
Variety brings in fullness. Every one of us, as members of the body of Christ, is different.
Do not try to copy one another. Do not desire to be another person. Do not think of yourself too lowly, nor too highly, but be sober-minded.
Then we will appreciate one another, and we will work together and help one another for the building up of the house of God.
Finally, the seventh principle of the body is submission.
As the body submits to the Head, this spirit of submission should be carried throughout the body.
In Ephesians 5, we usually quote the passage at a marriage ceremony: “Husbands, love your wives,” and “Wives, be subject unto your husbands.” But we forget that there is a verse before it, and that verse introduces what follows.
It says, “Subjecting yourselves one to another in the fear of Christ.” Submit to one another. Out of that submission, the order in the family will be established.
Dear brothers and sisters, when we come together, do not try to find how many people will be under your authority. When you come to the church, find out to whom you should submit.
When this spirit of submission prevails in the church, all the members of the body submit to one another. Because of this, order is established.
These are the few principles we would like to mention, that the body of Christ may be a healthy body.
Lord, how we praise and thank Thee that Thou hast called us to be the body of Christ. We thank Thee that Thou hast already put within us these laws, these principles.
We pray, Lord, that Thou wilt allow us to discover these laws and follow them.
In the name of our Lord Jesus.