2022 LORD’S MOVE TO ASIA (LMA) CO-WORKERS’ MEETING
Message Four
Coordination and Blending to Usher Us All into
the Reality of the Body of Christ
Scripture Reading: John 14:6; Ezek. 1:5-14, 20; Rom. 16:1-23; Eph. 4:16; Rev. 14:1; 21:2.
I. The reality of the Body of Christ is “the reality…in Jesus”, the actual condition of the life of Jesus, as recorded in the four Gospels, duplicated in His many members as the corporate living of the perfected God-men—John 14:6a; Eph. 4:20-24; Gal. 2:20; Phil. 1:8, 19-21a; 2:19-30:
A. Jesus lived a life in which He did everything in God, with God, and for God; God was in His living, and He was one with God—this is the reality in Jesus—Eph. 4:20-24.
B. The only life that is a delight to God is the life that is a repetition of the life Christ lived on earth; we are being perfected by the Lord to be God-men, living the divine life by denying our natural life according to the model of Christ as the first God-man—Gal. 2:20.
C. We need to become a corporate model, the reality of the Body, a people who live the life of a God-man; such a model will be the greatest revival in the history of the church to bring the Lord back—Matt. 16:18; Rev. 19:7-8.
II. The reality of the Body of Christ is signified in Ezekiel 1 by the four living creatures, who are a corporate expression of Christ, living out the life of Christ in a corporate way and coordinating together as one corporate entity, the corporate Christ, for His expression, move, and administration—vv. 5-14, 20, 26:
A. The living creatures move as one entity in coordination; each of the living creatures faces one direction (facing north, south, east, and west respectively), and two of their wings spread out and touch the adjacent creatures’ wings, forming a square—vv. 5-9, 17.
B. No matter which direction the living creatures are moving in, there is no need for any of them to turn; one simply goes straight forward; one returns, moving backward; and the other sides move sideways—vv. 9, 12, 17.
C. This is a beautiful picture of the coordination in the church as the Body of Christ, in which each member has his particular position and function, or ministry—Rom. 12:4-8; 1 Cor. 12:14-30; Eph. 4:7-16.
D. When one member functions, he moves “straight forward” to fulfill his function, and the other members accommodate him by moving in the same direction, with some moving “backward” and others moving “sideways” —Rom. 12:4-8; Eph. 4:16.
E. The coordination of the four living creatures is in the grace of Christ as the divine power, the divine strength, and the divine supply, because the eagles’ wings are the means by which they are coordinated and move as one—Ezek. 1:9, 11; Exo. 19:4; Isa. 40:31.
F. The result of the coordination of the living creatures is that they become burning coals and burning torches; the more we coordinate together, the more we burn one another; the fire is not static but always moving to and fro among the living creatures, because in their fellowship they allow God to move freely among them, causing them to run with the divine power and impact due to their one accord—Ezek. 1:13-14; Acts 1:14.
III. The purpose of the blending is to usher us all into the reality of the Body of Christ, and there is the need of the blending for the building up of the Body of Christ—Rom. 16:1-16, 21-24, 20; Rev. 1—3; Col. 4:16:
A. To know the purpose of the blending, we need to look into God’s eternal economy; in this economy as a plan, an arrangement, God decided to produce an organic Body to be His organism in life for His increase and expression—vv. 9-10; 3:9-11.
B. To carry this out, God Himself had to become a man that man might become God; He accomplished this by the way of union and mingling; eventually, God and man did unite together and mingle together—John 1:14; Matt. 1:20.
C. The local churches are not the goal, but the procedure God takes to reach the goal of His economy; Thus, we need to be in the local churches so that we can be ushered, or brought, into the reality of the Body of Christ—Matt. 16:18; 18:17.
D. This type of the blending was strongly referred to by the apostle Paul; In 1 Corinthians 10:17 Paul said, “Seeing that there is one bread, we who are many are one Body; for we all partake of the one bread.”
E. The blending is for the building up of the universal Body of Christ (Eph. 1:23) to consummate the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:2) as the final goal of God’s economy according to His good pleasure (Eph. 3:8-10; 1:9-10).
IV. We must realize that there is a great lack, a shortage, that is, the reality of the Body of Christ; it is for this reason that there is a need for the blending; Today in the recovery, we need to go on and on to reach the high peak of God’s economy, that is, Mount Zion—Rev. 14:1; Eph. 4:16; Rev. 212:
A. Jerusalem is built on the top of a mountain; although Jerusalem is good, it is not the peak; in Jerusalem there is a peak, that is, Mount Zion, on which the temple was built—Gen. 22:2; 2 Chron. 3:1.
B. The good situation in the recovery today is just like Jerusalem; however, there is no Zion; in the New Testament the overcomers are likened to Zion; in Revelation 14:1 the 144,000 overcomers are not just in Jerusalem; they are on the peak of Zion.
C. The overcomers, the vital groups, are today’s Zion; Although we may have a good church life, among us there is almost no realization, no practicality, no actuality, and no reality of the Body life; this is the need in the recovery today—Psa. 48:2, 11-12; 50:2; 20:2; 53:6a; 87:2.
D. A great part of the believers in the local churches are still in the natural man, but to be in the reality of the Body of Christ, we need to be absolutely in the resurrection life of Christ—Phil. 3:10; John 11:25.
V. We need to endeavor to reach in the church life the highest peak, today’s Zion, of the reality of the Body of Christ until we consummate in the New Jerusalem, including Zion; this is our need; to have the blending is to meet this need—Rev. 14:1-5; 21:1-3, 16.
Ministry Excerpts:
THE TRUTH IN JESUS BEING THE REAL SITUATION
OF THE LIFE OF JESUS
The truth in Jesus is the real situation of the life of Jesus as recorded in the four Gospels. In the godless walk of the nations, the fallen people, there is vanity. But in the godly life of Jesus there is truth, reality. Jesus lived a life always doing things in God, with God, and for God. God was in His life, and He was one with God. This is the truth in Jesus. We, the believers, regenerated with Christ as our life and taught in Him, learn from Him as the truth is in Jesus. (Life-study of Ephesians, msg. 46)
We need a corporate model, a Body, a people who live the life of a God-man. From today our practice should be to live the life of a God-man by realizing the power of the resurrection of Christ to take His cross as He did, to be crucified, to be conformed to His death, every day to live another One’s life (Phil. 3:10; 1:21; Gal. 2:20). Our life, our self, our flesh, our natural man, and our everything were already brought to the cross by Him. Now we are living Him, so we should remain in His crucifixion to be conformed to the mold of His death every moment in every part of our life. That will cause us to spontaneously live Him as the resurrection (John 11:25). This is the living of a God-man. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 1, “Living a Life according to the High Peak of God’s Revelation,” msg. 5)
A PICTURE OF COORDINATION
Ezekiel 1:11b-14 reveals a very clear picture of coordination.
Each of the living creatures faces one direction, respectively facing north, south, east, and west. As they face these four directions, two of their wings spread out and touch the adjacent creatures’ wings, forming a square. Each of the living creatures uses two of his wings to join with other living creatures.
Ezekiel 1:12 says, “And they went every one straight forward: whither the spirit was to go, they went; and they turned not when they went.” Here we see that every one of the living creatures goes straight forward. They do not turn, but some return, that is, move backward. For instance, while one of the living creatures is moving toward the north, the living creature facing the south must return, moving backward. Thus, one goes straight forward while the opposite creature moves backward. At the same time, the other two living creatures must move sideways. One moves sideways to the left, and the other moves sideways to the right. No matter in which direction the living creatures are moving, there is no need for any one of them to turn. One simply goes straight forward; one returns, moving backward; and the other sides move sideways. This is a beautiful picture of the coordination that we need in the church life.
Certain brothers and sisters cannot tolerate being coordinated together. Instead, they prefer to be separated and to do things on their own. As long as they are separated, there is no suffering. Once they are coordinated, there is a kind of suffering, because in coordination there is no freedom or convenience.
Coordination keeps us from making turns. If one is moving by himself, he may first move to the north and then turn and move to the east. Later he may turn again to move to the south and eventually turn once more and move to the west. He moves in many directions by making many turns. In the Lord’s ministry, on the contrary, there is no such turning. Instead, one moves straight forward, and those who coordinate with him move either backward or sideways.
If someone acts without coordination in the church service, doing things on his own, he will make a number of turns. If he functions in the way of doing many different things by himself, it will be necessary for him to make many turns. In the church service, however, there is no need for turns. Everyone has his function and position. He can simply go straight forward in his function and position. If there is the need to move in another direction, others can take care of that. There is no need for anyone to turn.
In the church life we all need to learn not only how to walk straight forward but also how to walk backward (that is, to return) and to walk sideways. Although this may seem quite awkward, we all need to learn this lesson. Otherwise, we cannot be coordinated.
One problem is that certain brothers and sisters either want to do everything or do nothing at all. Those who want to do everything want to be able to move in every direction. If they are asked to move in a particular direction, they will also want to move in other directions. This means that they want to make a lot of turns. No matter what direction is needed in the church service, they want to be able to walk in that direction.
In the proper coordination there are no turns. You walk straight forward or you either return by walking backward or you walk sideways. It is particularly difficult to walk sideways, and many brothers and sisters are unable to do this.
We need the proper coordination in the local churches. In some churches certain brothers and sisters are very capable and make many turns. Others are not very capable, so they do nothing. As a result, there is no coordination. If we would have coordination in the church life, we all need to learn to walk straight forward, to walk backward, and to walk sideways. (Life-study of Ezekiel, msg. 7)
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE BLENDING BEING THE REALITY
OF THE BODY OF CHRIST
The significance of the blending is the reality of the Body of Christ. This reality is nothing but the group of God’s redeemed who have all been made God, the God-men, by God. They live a life not by themselves but by another life which is within them. This other life is the Triune God processed and consummated to enter into them and to take them as His abode, His dwelling place. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 1, “The Practical Points concerning Blending,” msg. 3)
To know the purpose of the blending, we need to look into God’s eternal economy. Our God, the moving and acting God, made an eternal economy in Himself for Christ in eternity past (Eph. 1:9-10; 3:9-11). In this economy as a plan, an arrangement, God decided to produce an organic Body to be His organism in life for His increase and expression. To carry this out, God Himself had to become a man that man might become God. He accomplished this by the way of union and mingling. Eventually, God and man did unite together and mingle together. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 1, “The Practical Points concerning Blending,” msg. 1)
In approximately 1980 I began to see the truth of God’s economy. To open up the entire Bible from the first page to the last is needed, but what is the central matter in the Holy Bible? This central matter is the economy of God. The economy of God is for the Body of Christ. After seeing this, I checked with myself, “Where is the Body of Christ? You have opened the Bible book by book to the saints, and there are more than sixteen hundred local churches raised up on this earth, but where is the Body? You have the churches, but where can you see the Body?” Because of this, I became burdened. I said, “Lord, I must confess to You and admit that although I saw the Body of Christ and I preached and taught the Body of Christ for years, even I myself am not very much in the reality of the Body of Christ.” I was confessing my dullness and shortcomings to the Lord concerning this matter. Thus, the present burden has come to me. You should not pay so much attention to the spreading of the recovery, to the increase of the churches, and to the good meetings of the churches. You must realize that there is a great lack, a shortage, that is, the reality of the Body of Christ. It is for this reason that there is a need for the blending.
REACHING THE HIGH PEAK OF ZION
Today in the recovery, we need to go on and on to reach the high peak of God’s economy, that is, Mount Zion.
Jerusalem is built on the top of a mountain. Although Jerusalem is good, it is not the peak. In Jerusalem there is a peak, that is, Mount Zion, on which the temple was built. About one thousand years before the building of the temple, God asked Abraham to offer his son Isaac on Mount Moriah, which is another name for Mount Zion (Gen. 22:2; 2 Chron. 3:1). The good situation in the recovery today is just like Jerusalem. However, there is no Zion. In the New Testament the overcomers are likened to Zion. In Revelation 14:1 the 144,000 overcomers are not just in Jerusalem; they are on the peak of Zion. The overcomers, the vital groups, are today’s Zion. My burden today is to help you reach the peak of the vital groups, that is, the overcomers’ Zion. Although we may have a good church life, among us there is almost no realization, no practicality, no actuality, and no reality of the Body life. This is the need in the recovery today.
You may argue that the church is the Body of Christ. Yes, it is; but to be in the reality of the Body of Christ is not just a matter of setting up local churches with the establishing of elders and the practice of the church life in a particular way. This is merely an arrangement, a work, a service. It is not the reality of the Body of Christ. Even though our preaching of the gospel may be very good, there may not be much reality of the Body of Christ.
The highest peak of the Lord’s recovery that can really, practically, and actually carry out God’s economy is for God to produce not many local churches in a physical way but an organic Body to be His organism.
THE NEED OF THE BLENDING FOR THE BUILDING UP
OF THE BODY OF CHRIST
A great part of the believers in the local churches are still in the natural man, but to be in the reality of the Body of Christ, we need to be absolutely in the resurrection life of Christ. We do have some good coordination in the local churches. However, I would ask, “Is this kind of coordination carried out by the natural life or in resurrection?” To be in resurrection means that our natural life is crucified, and then the God-created part of our being is uplifted in resurrection to be one with Christ in resurrection. In Philippians 3:10 Paul said that we all need to be conformed to the death of Christ by the power of His resurrection. We all need to ask ourselves whether the coordination among us is by the power of Christ’s resurrection or merely by our natural man.
It is common today that in the local churches what we can see is mostly the “church” in its meetings, activities, works, and services. But we cannot see much of the reality of the Body of Christ in resurrection, that is, in the Spirit, in the pneumatic Christ, and in the consummated God. So there is the need for us to endeavor to be absolutely in the resurrection life of Christ. We need to endeavor to reach in the church life the highest peak, today’s Zion, of the reality of the Body of Christ until we consummate in the New Jerusalem, including Zion. Dear saints, this is our need. To have the blending is to meet this need. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 1, “The Practical Points concerning Blending,” msg. 2)