Living in the Reality of the Body of Christ by Keeping the Principles of the Body
Message Two
The Oneness of the Body and the Function of the Body
Opening Word of the Prophesying Meeting
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
One Body and one Spirit, even as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all—Eph. 4:4-6.
For even as the body is one and has many members, yet all the members of the body, being many, are one body, so also is the Christ. For also in one Spirit we were all baptized into one Body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and were all given to drink one Spirit—Rom. 12:12-13.
Word of Appetizer
The Body of Christ is uniquely one universally; as those who are in the Body, we need to realize that we are one with all the saints in the entire universe；what is the genuine oneness of the Body?
One of the most positive items in the New Testament revelation is the genuine oneness of the Body. This genuine oneness is just the processed Triune God, who mingles Himself with us, the redeemed and transformed Christians.
The genuine oneness is not merely a matter of our meeting together. Our oneness is the oneness of the organic Body of Christ. The three of the Triune God—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit—are three divine factors of this oneness, and these three divine factors are mingled with one human factor, consummating in the Body. This Body is the genuine oneness.
Spiritual Burden
The Lord’s recovery is the recovery of the oneness of the Body of Christ; the unique oneness of the Body of Christ is “the oneness of the Spirit”; we need to keep the oneness of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace with the transformed human virtues.
The function of the Body is to express Christ; the universally great Christ needs a Body to be His fullness, His expression; through the enjoyment of Christ’s riches, we become His fullness to express Him; the purpose of us believers being members one of another in the Body of Christ is that we would live Christ and express Him together.
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
The Body of Christ is uniquely one universally; the unique oneness of the Body of Christ is “the oneness of the Spirit”; the genuine oneness of the Body is the processed and consummated Triune God, who mingles Himself with the believers; the oneness of the Body of Christ is the oneness of the Divine Trinity; hence, the oneness of the Body of Christ is the enlarged oneness of the Divine Trinity.
The function of the Body is to express Christ; the Body of Christ is the extension and continuation of Christ on earth; the purpose of us believers being members one of another in the Body of Christ is that we would live Christ and express Him together.
The Experience of Life
We are the church to be the Body of Christ not by being organized but by being enlivened, regenerated, and made alive with the Triune God as the oneness within us; this oneness was imparted into the spirit of the believers in Christ, in the regeneration by the Spirit of life with Christ as life.
God is constituting us with Christ so that we can become the Body of Christ in reality and practicality; “For also in one Spirit we were all baptized into one Body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and were all given to drink one Spirit”.
Practice and Application
We need to keep the oneness of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace with the transformed human virtues; blending is the most helpful thing in keeping the oneness of the universal Body of Christ; all the believers should be in the divine and mystical realm of the pneumatic Christ and the consummated Spirit to be mingled with the Triune God for the keeping of the oneness.
The function of the Body is to express Christ; through the enjoyment of Christ’s riches, we become His fullness to express Him; the purpose of us believers being members one of another in the Body of Christ is that we would live Christ and express Him together.
Using Key Verses to Have a Bird’s-Eye View over the Whole Outline
Key Verses (1)
Being diligent to keep the oneness of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace. One Body and one Spirit, even as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all—Eph. 4:3-6
That they all may be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us; that the world may believe that You have sent Me—John 17:21
I. The Body of Christ is uniquely one universally
- The Lord’s recovery is the recovery of the oneness of the Body of Christ.
- The unique oneness of the Body of Christ is “the oneness of the Spirit”; We need to keep the oneness of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace with the transformed human virtues.
- The genuine oneness of the Body is the processed and consummated Triune God, who mingles Himself with the believers.
- The oneness of the Body of Christ is the oneness of the Divine Trinity; hence, the oneness of the Body of Christ is the enlarged oneness of the Divine Trinity.
Key Verses (2)
But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in offenses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)—Eph. 2:4-5
But our comely members have no need. But God has blended the body together, giving more abundant honor to the member that lacked—1Cor. 12:24
Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually—1Cor. 12:27
I. The Body of Christ is uniquely one universally
- We are the church to be the Body of Christ not by being organized but by being enlivened, regenerated, and made alive with the Triune God as the oneness within us.
- All the local churches are and should be one Body universally, doctrinally, and practically.
- Blending is the most helpful thing in keeping the oneness of the universal Body of Christ.
- The keeping of the oneness is the primary virtue of our Christian walk.
- All the believers should be in the divine and mystical realm of the pneumatic Christ and the consummated Spirit to be mingled with the Triune God for the keeping of the oneness.
Key Verses (3)
And He subjected all things under His feet and gave Him to be Head over all things to the church, which is His Body, the fullness of the One who fills all in all—Eph. 1:22-23
So we who are many are one Body in Christ, and individually members one of another—Rom. 12:5
For even as the body is one and has many members, yet all the members of the body, being many, are one body, so also is the Christ. For also in one Spirit we were all baptized into one Body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and were all given to drink one Spirit—1 Cor. 12:12-13
II. The function of the Body is to express Christ
- The universally great Christ needs a Body to be His fullness, His expression.
- The Body of Christ is the extension and continuation of Christ on earth.
- The purpose of us believers being members one of another in the Body of Christ is that we would live Christ and express Him together.
- The Body of Christ is Christ; if we would be in the Body, we must be made Christ .
- The Body of Christ is the corporate Christ; the Christ refers not to the individual Christ but to the corporate Christ, the Body-Christ.
Prophesying Topics—Twelve Topics per Week
D1
T1. The Body of Christ is uniquely one universally (Rom. 12:4-5;Eph. 4:3;)
(Please explain that the unique oneness of the Body of Christ is “the oneness of the Spirit”)
T2. The oneness of Christ’s Body is the universal ground of the church. (Eph. 4:3)
(Please explain that the ground of the church should not be merely local; it should also be universal.)
D2
T1. The genuine oneness of the Body is the processed and consummated Triune God.(Eph. 4:4-6)
(Please explain that the Triune God is one, and that oneness is a model of the oneness of the Body of Christ.)
T2. the oneness of the Body of Christ is the enlarged oneness of the Divine Trinity (John 17:6, 14, 22).
(According to John 17:6, 14, 22, please explain that three aspects of the genuine oneness, which is the mingling of the Triune God with the redeemed humanity. )
D3
T1.Blending is the most helpful thing in keeping the oneness of the universal Body of Christ (1Cor.12:24b).
(Please explain what is the meaning of blending according to 12:24 footnote1.)
T2. our oneness is the subjective Triune God.(1 Cor. 6:17)
(Please explain that the divine nature, the divine life, the divine element, and the divine essence are our oneness.)
D4
T1. The body of Christ is the fullness of Christ.(Eph. 1:22-23)
(Please explain that the universally great Christ needs a Body to be His fullness, His expression.)
T2. The fullness of Christ issues from the enjoyment of the riches of Christ (Eph. 1:22-23; Eph.3:8).
(Please explain that the difference between fullness and riches of Christ.)
D5
T1. What the Lord wants is not individual members but a whole Body expressing Christ.(Rom. 12:5)
(Please explain that we are not separate and complete individual units. Rather, we should coordinate together to become the many parts of the one whole.)
T2. The church is one with Christ in life and nature.(1Cor.12:12; Col. 3:10-11)
(Please explain that Christ is not only the Head, but He is also the Body.)
D6
T1. We are the Body of this mysterious Christ. (1Cor.12:12)
(Please explain that All the saved ones in all times and in all space added together become the Body of this mysterious Christ.)
T2. The Body of Christ is the corporate Christ.(1Cor.12:12-13)
( please explain that in order to become the corporate Christ, the Body-Christ, the steps of a process Christ had to pass through. )
