The Body of Christ:

A Reality

WATCHMAN NEE

Christian Fellowship Publishers, Inc.

New York
 Copyright ©1978
Christian Fellowship Publishers, Inc.
New York
All Rights Reserved

ISBN 0-935008-13-6

Available from the Publishers at:

11515 Allecingie Parkway
Richmond, Virginia 23235

PRINTED IN U.S.A.
 TRANSLATOR’S PREFACE
“And gave him [Christ] to be head over all things to the church,
which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth 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.
 CONTENTS

1 Life and Consciousness 7

2 The Consciousness of the Body of Christ 13

3 Hold Fast the Head 25

4 The Service of the Member 33

5 The Function and Harmony of the Members 41

6 Obeying the Law of the Body of Christ 47

7 The Covering, Restraint, and Supply of the Body of Christ 63

8 Three Cardinal Principles On Living in the Body of Christ 73

Scripture quotations are from the
American Standard Version
of the Bible (1901),
unless otherwise indicated.
1
Life and Consciousness
In Him was life; and the life was the light of men.
(John 1.4)
So then, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to
live after the flesh. (Rom. 8.12)
And whether one member suffereth, all the members
suffer with it; or one member is honored, all the members rejoice
with it. (1Cor.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 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
8 The Body of Christ

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 Saviour, 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 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 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 within 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
 Life and Consciousness 9

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
10 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 suffereth, 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 v. 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 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 sin, then
however much he may confess with his mouth that lying is a sin, it
 Life and Consciousness 11

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 Saviour 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.
12 The Body of Christ

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 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. (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
John 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
14 The Body of Christ

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 went 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
 The Consciousness of the Body of Christ 15

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 even to offer up an amen. His
consciousness is disconnected 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
16 The Body of Christ

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 persons. 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
known 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,
 The Consciousness of the Body of Christ 17

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 preceive the oneness of the body, they immediately
comprehend the oneness of the work. The 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.
18 The Body of Christ

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 blessings 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
 The Consciousness of the Body of Christ 19

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. In fellowship, I acknowledge my
insufficiency and incompetency, and I also acknowledge my need of
the body. I confess that I am limited and liable to make mistakes; for
this I plead with those 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.
20 The Body of Christ

Learn to Be a Member

If a person has body consciousness he at once recognizes his place

in the body; that is to say, 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.
 The Consciousness of the Body of Christ 21

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 word 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 invariably 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.
22 The Body of Christ

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
 The Consciousness of the Body of Christ 23

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
24 The Body of Christ

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 supplieth, according to the working in due measure of each
several part, maketh the increase of the body unto the building up
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,
increaseth 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. Nothing in
the body can live outside of 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 John 5.12). A Christian receives
26 The Body of Christ

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 John 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
 Hold Fast the Head 27

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 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
28 The Body of Christ

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 hath made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom
ye crucified” (v.36). He opened his mouth and declared that Christ is
Lord. Christ is not only Saviour, He is firstly Lord: we need Him to
be Lord to us. And because we have sinned, He must also be our
Saviour.

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 art thou, Lord?”(Acts 9.5) Paul first saw Jesus as
Lord before he believed on Him as Saviour. 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. “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 supplieth, according to
the working in due measure of each several part, maketh 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
 Hold Fast the Head 29

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.
30 The Body of Christ

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 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 orders 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
 Hold Fast the Head 31

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 they 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
34 The Body of Christ

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 believers 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
 The Service of the Member 35

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 love: 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
36 The Body of Christ

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
 The Service of the Member 37

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
38 The Body of Christ

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
 The Service of the Member 39

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 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
fulness of Christ. (Eph. 4.12,13)
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 supplieth,
according to the working in due measure of each several part,
maketh 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 yourself 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
42 The Body of Christ

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 you behold the splendor of Christ; in
reading Paul’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.
 The Function and Harmony of the Members 43

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 ears, 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
44 The Body of Christ

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 induces God’s children to divide; he
causes 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
 The Function and Harmony of the Members 45

needs to do 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 of 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? What place does our own work 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.
46 The Body of Christ

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 the 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 word 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 laid they 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 thyself pure. (1 Tim. 5.22)
Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by
prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery. (1
Tim. 4.14)
For which cause I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up
the gift of God, which is in thee through the laying on of my
hands. (2 Tim. 1.6)
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: and the prayer of faith shall save him that is
sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed
sins, it shall be forgiven him. Confess therefore your sins one to
another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The
48 The Body of Christ

supplication of a righteous man availeth much in its working.

(James 5.14-16)
And as he journeyed, it came to pass that he drew nigh unto
Damascus: and suddenly there shone round about him a light out
of heaven: and he fell upon the earth, and heard a voice saying
unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who
art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest:
but rise, and enter into the city, and it shall be told thee what
thou must do. . . But the Lord said unto him [Ananias], Go thy
way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, 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 thee in the way which thou camest, hath sent me,
that thou mayest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy
Spirit. (Acts 9.3-17)
And if thy brother sin against thee, go, show him his fault
between thee and him alone: if he hear thee, thou hast gained thy
brother. But if he hear thee not, take with thee one or two more,
that at the mouth of two witnesses or three every word may be
established. And if he refuse to hear them, tell it unto the church:
and if he refuse to hear the church also, let him be unto thee as
the Gentile and the publican. (Matt. 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.
 Obeying the Law of the Body of Christ 49

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 be cause 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
50 The Body of Christ

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”(v.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
 Obeying the Law of the Body of Christ 51

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 laying 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
thyself pure” (5.22). Since the laying on of hands is a being joined
together with other people, it will make a person partaker 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
52 The Body of Christ

apostles knew how to work in Jerusalem, he also would know how to

work in Samaria—with the consequence being 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, not the Spirit of an individual. 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 unto 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,
 Obeying the Law of the Body of Christ 53

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 the 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.

“Whether one member suffereth,” says Paul, “all the members

suffer with it; or 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 his proper place in the body.

Imparting Gift through the Laying On of Hands

“I put thee in remembrance,” said Paul to Timothy, “that thou stir

up the gift of God, which is in thee through the laying on of my
hands” (2 Tim. 1.6). What is meant here is that the gift which 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 thee, which was given thee
54 The Body of Christ

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” (James 5.14). This verse should be read together with a
passage in 1 Corinthians 11: “He that eateth and drinketh, eateth and
drinketh judgment unto himself, if he discern not the body. For this
cause many among you are weak and sickly, and not a few sleep”
(vv.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 and does not follow the law of the body, he will be
 Obeying the Law of the Body of Christ 55

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”
(Ps. 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 the 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 have committed sins, it shall be forgiven him”
56 The Body of Christ

(v.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 sins away. Nevertheless, what is written here is that “if
he have 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 ye may be healed. The
supplication of a righteous man availeth much in its working” (v.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 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
 Obeying the Law of the Body of Christ 57

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
persecutest thou me?” The Lord is saying, “Why persecutest thou
me?”: He does not say, “Why persecutest thou those who believe in
me?” And so Paul asked: “Who art thou, Lord?” To which the Lord
answered: “I am Jesus whom thou persecutest” (vv.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 thee what thou must do” (v.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.
58 The Body of Christ

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 lofty 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 earth; 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” (vv.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
thee in the way which thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mayest
receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Spirit” (v.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.
 Obeying the Law of the Body of Christ 59

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 thy brother sin against thee, go, show him his fault between
thee and him alone: if he hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But
if he hear thee not, take with thee one or two more, that at the mouth
of two witnesses or three every word may be established” (vv.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
60 The Body of Christ

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” (v.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 to the name of the Lord.
These four classes of people represent the body. In the event you are
 Obeying the Law of the Body of Christ 61

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 fulness of him that filleth all in all. (Eph.
1.22, 23)
From whom all the body fitly framed and knit together
through that which every joint supplieth, according to the
working in due measure of each several part, maketh 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 ye may be able to
stand against the wiles of the devil. For our wrestling is not
against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the
powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the
spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Wherefore
take up the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand
in the evil day, and, having done all, to stand. Stand therefore,
having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the
breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the
preparation of the gospel of peace; withal taking up the shield of
faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of
the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of
the Spirit, which is the word of God: with all prayer and
supplication praying at all seasons in the Spirit, and watching
thereunto in 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.
64 The Body of Christ

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 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 and 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 ye may be able to stand” (v.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
 The Covering, Restraint, and Supply of the Body of Christ 65

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 in 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,
66 The Body of Christ

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 singlehanded 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 Matt.
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
 The Covering, Restraint, and Supply of the Body of Christ 67

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 ever 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 some 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
68 The Body of Christ

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. Whether
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 fulfilment. 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
 The Covering, Restraint, and Supply of the Body of Christ 69

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 reached not unto you
... but having hope that, as your faith groweth, we shall be magnified
in you according to our limit unto further abundance, so as to preach
the gospel even unto the parts 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
too wonderful for me” (Ps. 131.1). Those things which are 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 the 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.
70 The Body of Christ

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 the 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 law 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 ye come together, each one hath

a psalm, hath a teaching, hath a revelation, hath a tongue, hath an
interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying” (1 Cor. 14.26).
So Paul instructed the Corinthians 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 Covering, Restraint, and Supply of the Body of Christ 71

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 John 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 worketh even until now,” declared the Lord
Jesus, “and I work” (John 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
72 The Body of Christ

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 external 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]” (v.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
of 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.
74 The Body of Christ

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 Relation 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
 Three Cardinal Principles On Living in the Body of Christ 75

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
76 The Body of Christ

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 members 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 suffereth, 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 this is due to no other reason than 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 praying one day with two or three other Christians.
Oddly, on that day she felt the sweeping power of the Holy Spirit
 Three Cardinal Principles On Living in the Body of Christ 77

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 of 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.