BRIEF PRESENTATION OF THE LORD’ S RECOVERY
The Building Up of a Local Church
A local church is built up by the functioning of all its members with the perfecting of the gifted persons, such as the apostles, prophets, evangelists, and shepherds and teachers (Eph. 4:11-12), through:
(1) the preaching of the gospel to get sinners saved and baptized (Matt. 28:19); [412]
(2) the feeding of the new believers in their homes for the growth in life and in truth (John 21:15; 1 Pet. 2:2);
(3) the perfecting of the saints in the group meetings for the building up of the Body of Christ (Eph. 4:12); and
(4) the prophesying in the church meetings for the building up of the church (1 Cor. 14:1-5, 23-26, 31).
The gifted persons carry out their ministry in perfecting all the members of a local church in a locality so that all the members of that local church will be able to do what the gifted persons can do (Eph. 4:12) in the abovementioned four items, for the building up of that local church, issuing in the building up of the universal Body of Christ. The gifted persons do not build up the church directly; rather, all the members who have been perfected by the gifted persons build up the church directly.
The Building Up of a Local Church
Being for the Building Up of the Entire Body of Christ
The building up of a local church is not only for its own building up locally (1 Cor. 14:3) but for the building up of the entire Body of Christ universally (Eph. 4:12). Actually, the building up of the local churches is the building up of the Body of Christ because the local churches are the Body of Christ as its expression. Without the building up of the local churches, by what other way could the Body of Christ be practically built up?
A SUPPLEMENTARY WORD
THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE CHURCHES IN THE LORD’S RECOVERY
In this supplementary word I am burdened to share with you, first, concerning the fellowship of the churches in the Lord’s recovery. Today we need to have a complete, thorough knowledge concerning the fellowship of the Body of Christ and also concerning the fellowship of the local churches.
As we have seen in this book, the Lord’s recovery is the recovery of the divine revelation concerning eight basic and major items: God, Christ, the Spirit, the eternal life, the believers, the church, the proper ground of the church, and the practice of the local churches. Among these items the recovery of the proper ground of the church touches a major practical problem that we are facing today. The recovery today is very practically the recovery of the proper ground of the church. All the divisions and confusions among Christians today have come from this one source: the fact that most Christians are destitute of the knowledge of the proper ground of the church. Today all of Christianity is full of divisions. Division eventually leads to confusion; these two are actually two sides of one thing. In the past three years we have been facing a real problem among us, a problem that may be termed a rebellion, a turmoil, or a division. This problem has been due not to the lack of knowledge concerning the proper ground of the church but to the fact that those responsible for the problem would not practice the truth concerning the proper ground of the church. They would not keep the proper ground of the church. In addition to the knowledge concerning the ground of the church, for the proper practice of the local churches, the adequate knowledge of the fellowship of the Body of Christ is needed.
The Fellowship of the Body of Christ
We need to see in a brief way the fellowship of the Body of Christ. In our physical body there is a current of blood, which we may call the circulation of the blood. This current, or this circulation, is going on continuously in our physical body. If this circulation, or this current, of blood were to stop for only a few minutes, we would die. Thus, it is the circulation of our blood that keeps us alive. The health of our body depends on the circulation of our blood. We may say that this circulation is the fellowship of our body.
The fellowship of the Body of Christ is very similar to the circulation of the blood in our body. We have been enlightened to see that Christ has a Body and that we are members of His Body, that is, members of Christ Himself. Just as our physical body has many members, Christ’s Body also has many members. And just as a man has only one body—this is a principle ordained in God’s creation—Christ also has only one Body. If we do not understand the church as the Body of Christ, we should simply look at our own body. We can understand Christ’s Body by knowing our own body. I have learned a great deal concerning the Body of Christ by learning to know my own body. If we learn to know our body, we will know the Body of Christ.
The circulation of the blood is the fellowship of our body. The fellowship of Christ’s Body is also a kind of circulation. In our physical body we have the circulation of the blood, but Christ’s mystical Body does not have blood. The fellowship in Christ’s Body, then, is the circulation of the Spirit. The Spirit today is the “blood” in Christ’s Body. If there were no blood in our body, our body would be dried up and would be dead. Likewise, if Christ’s Body did not have the Spirit, it would be like a corpse. Thus, the fellowship of the Body of Christ is simply the circulation, the current, of the Spirit—not the Holy Spirit or the Spirit of God but the Spirit. In the New Testament the Spirit denotes the consummated Spirit, the Spirit who has been consummated, compounded, and mingled and who is now dispensing. In this Spirit there is divinity, that is, God’s divine nature, and there is humanity, that is, man’s human nature. There is also Christ’s person, Christ’s wonderful, all-inclusive death, and Christ’s empowering resurrection with His ascension. All these elements have been compounded into this one Spirit. When this one Spirit is circulating [415] within the Body of Christ, divinity, humanity, Christ’s person, Christ’s death, and Christ’s resurrection are all circulating. How wonderful this is!
The circulation of the blood is very important to our physical body. This circulation carries nourishment to every part of our body, and it also causes our body to be cherished. At times we may need to do some physical exercises to improve the circulation in our body. This may cause us to be more healthy. Romans 10:12 says that whenever we call on the name of the Lord, the Lord becomes rich to us. I have discovered that the more we call on the Lord with a loud voice, the more our spirit is released, and the more we are healed and strengthened. Such calling on the Lord will make us very healthy because to call in this way is to exercise. If we are always quiet and shut up within ourselves, we will be very weak. But if we call, “O Lord Jesus! O Lord! O Lord, Amen, Hallelujah!” for ten minutes, the Lord will become rich to us. We will have joy, and eventually we will have strength. The joy of the Lord will be our strength (Neh. 8:10). I have learned the secret of calling on the name of the Lord. The Lord is rich to all who call on Him. To call is not merely to pray. The Greek word for call means “to cry out,” even loudly. In certain situations it would not be appropriate for us to call on the Lord loudly. However, when we are in a proper situation to do so, we should call loudly, “O Lord Jesus! Amen!” By calling on the Lord in this way, we will enjoy the riches of Christ, and we will be strengthened. This is because our calling on the name of the Lord causes the Spirit to circulate within us. This circulating Spirit is the compound Spirit, who includes divinity, humanity, Christ’s person, Christ’s death, and Christ’s resurrection. The riches in this compound Spirit are unsearchable. When this Spirit circulates within us, we enjoy all of Christ’s riches. This circulation is the fellowship of the Body of Christ.
The Body of Christ Being Uniquely One Universally
The Body of Christ is uniquely one universally (Eph. 4:4-6). Individually, we are members of the Body of Christ, and all the local churches are parts of this one unique Body of Christ. As those who are in the Body, we need to realize that we are one with all the saints in the entire universe. Ephesians 4:4-6 depicts a oneness that is universal: “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 [416] Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” In these verses we can see that the Triune God is mingled with the Body. The Body mentioned here is not local; rather, it is universal. This is the universal oneness of the Body of Christ.
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