THE UNIQUE WORK IN GOD’S ECONOMY
Message Four
Keeping the Oneness of the Body of Christ
Scripture Reading: John 17:21-22; Eph. 4:1-6, 1 Cor. 12:15-22; 2 Cor. 10:13-15
I. The oneness of the Triune God, which is the oneness of the Body of Christ, includes all that Christ is to us in and for God’s economy—Psa. 133:
A. The oneness of the Body of Christ is of the divine, uncreated life; the Body of Christ, being organic, is undivided and indivisible, as Christ is—1 Cor. 1:13a, John 17:3; 1:4.
B. The unique oneness of the Body of Christ is “the oneness of the Spirit”; the Spirit is the essence of the Body of Christ; hence, the Spirit is the reality of the oneness of the Body of Christ—Eph. 4:3; 1 John 5:6; John 16:13.
C. The oneness of the Body of Christ is actually the triune, organic, living God Himself; the oneness of the Body of Christ is unique because it is a oneness in the uniqueness of the Triune God—Eph. 4:4-6; John 17:6, 11, 14-23.
D. Because the Body of Christ is the mingling of the Triune God with His redeemed and transformed people, the Body itself is the oneness—Eph. 4:3-6.
II. Five phrases in Ephesians 4:1-3 give us a practical way to keep the oneness of the Spirit, the oneness of the Body of Christ, that is, to practice the one accord: lowliness, meekness, long-suffering, bearing one another in love, and the uniting bond of peace—Eph. 4:1-3:
A. We should not set up a higher standard for others, but in lowliness we should love the weaker ones—Phil. 2:2-3:
1. As long as we take something other than Christ Himself as our standard, we do not have lowliness; if we put forth a high standard, we are not lowly in our mind and attitude—Phil. 2:3.
2. The weaker ones, the younger ones, and the backsliders need more love in the Lord; to love them will solve most of their problems; otherwise, we will set up a high standard out of pride and not lowliness—1 Cor. 11:29, 12:23.
B. We must sacrifice ourselves to be meek in our attitude—Num. 12:3; Matt. 5:5:
1. Meekness is a matter of an unselfish attitude that is mild and gentle, never argues for oneself, and never makes an excuse for oneself—2 Chron. 1:10; Col. 2:2-3; Phil. 4:5.
2. In order to be meek, we must sacrifice ourselves, regardless of how we are treated; in the church life we must not have a harsh, hard, or cruel attitude—Eph. 4:2.
C. To be long-suffering is to endure mistreatment; to be long-suffering is mainly related to our spoken word—Eph. 4:2; James 5:7:
1. A brother may wrong us, but for the Lord’s glory and for the sake of the church life, we should not speak a word about it—1 Cor. 6:7; Mark 10:19.
2. In order to learn the lesson of long-suffering, we need to experience the suffering of restricting our mouth and stopping our tongue; we may see and hear many things, but we should not speak a word without the anointing and leading of the Holy Spirit so that the church life will be kept from damage—Eph. 4:2, 29; 1 Pet. 3:10.
D. In order to bear one another in love, we need to fight against suspicion and fear in the church life—1 John 4:18:
1. Instead of suspicion and fear, we should have only love; love should prevail in the church life; love is the most excellent way for us to be anything or do anything in the church life—1 Cor. 12:31b.
2. It is always a temptation to know others’ attitude toward us, how they consider us, and what is being said about us; in order to realize the church life, we must reject this temptation—cf. Eccl. 7:21-22.
E. We need to be diligent to keep the oneness of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace—Eph. 4:3:
1. The church life is tested by the peace we have, not only vertically with God but also horizontally with all the brothers—Col. 3:5.
2. We should not be over-related or under-related to anyone; the uniting bond of peace is the balanced relatedness in the church—Eph. 4:16.
III. We should always consider the Body, care for the Body, honor the Body, and do what is best for the Body—1 Cor. 12:14-27:
A. “When Brother Nee taught about the Body he said that with whatever we do, we have to consider how the churches would feel about it” (The Problems Causing the Turmoils in the Church Life, p. 29).
B. In the Body there can be no independence or individualism, for we are members, and members cannot live in detachment from the Body—v. 27; Rom. 12:5; Eph. 5:30.
C. Wherever there is Body-revelation, there is Body-consciousness, and wherever there is Body-consciousness, individualistic thought and action are ruled out—1 Cor. 12:27, 2 Cor. 2:13.
D. What I do not know, another member of the Body will know; what I cannot see, another member of the Body will see; what I cannot do, another member of the Body will do—1 Cor. 12:17-22.
IV. As members of the Body of Christ, we must be limited by the other members, not going beyond our measure—1 Cor. 12:14-27:
A. God has placed all the members of the Body, even as He willed—1 Cor. 12:18:
1. The Head sets us in our special place in the Body and points us to our special function—Rom. 12:4; 1 Cor. 12:15-17.
2. Since such an assignment is according to God’s will, every member is necessary; every member has a definite place, a definite assignment, and a particular portion with which he serves the Body of Christ—vv. 18-22.
B. A basic requirement for the growth and development of the Body is that we recognize our measure and do not go beyond it—Eph. 4:7-16.
C. Like Paul we should move and act according to how much God has measured to us, staying within the limits of God’s ruling, God’s measuring—2 Cor. 10:13-15; Eph. 4:16; 2 Tim. 4:5.
