THE FOURTH SERIES:
THE PATHWAY OF THE LORD’S RECOVERY
Crucial Principles in the Administration of the Church
Message Four—Keeping the Principle of the Body
Scripture Reading: Eph. 4:3-6; Phil. 1:19; 1 Cor. 12:12-22; Col. 2:19; Rom. 15:6; Psa. 133
I. The elders and the leading ones should take the lead to know the Body—Rom. 12:4-5; Eph. 1:22-23; 4:4-6, 16: (2012 ITEROS, msg. 6)
A. All the problems of the church today are due to ignorance concerning the Body of Christ—1:17-23: (2012 ITEROS, msg. 6)
1. The biggest problem is not knowing the Body and not caring for the Body—4:4, 16. (2012 ITEROS, msg. 6)
2. The way we behave ourselves in the church depends upon the degree of our seeing the Body—Acts 22:10; 26:18-19. (2012 ITEROS, msg. 6)
B. We need to know the Body in life—1 John 5:11-12; Col. 3:4; 2:19; Rom. 8:2, 6, 10-11; 12:4-5: (2012 ITEROS, msg. 6)
1. The Body of Christ is formed by Christ as life in us; this life mingles with us to become the Body of Christ—1 John 5:11-12; Col. 3:4; 1:18; 2:19: (2012 ITEROS, msg. 6)
a. The life in us is not a member life—it is a Body life. (2012 ITEROS, msg. 6)
b. We are all one in this life; this oneness in life is the mystical Body of Christ—Eph. 5:30. (2012 ITEROS, msg. 6)
2. Knowing the Body in life is the result of our experience of life and spiritual growth—1 John 2:12-14. (2012 ITEROS, msg. 6)
C. If we still live according to the flesh and in ourselves and serve in our natural ability, the life of the Body, which is Christ Himself in us, cannot be manifested, and we cannot know the Body. (2012 ITEROS, msg. 6)
D. Only when the flesh has been dealt with, the self has been abandoned, and the natural constitution has been broken can we touch the reality of the Body—1 Cor. 12:12; Eph. 4:4-6. (2012 ITEROS, msg. 6)
E. We need to know the Body in practice—vv. 20, 27; 15:58: (2012 ITEROS, msg. 6)
1. A local church is an expression of the Body of Christ in a particular locality—1:2; 10:32b; 12:12-13, 20, 27: (2012 ITEROS, msg. 6)
a. The one universal church—the Body of Christ—becomes the many local churches—the local expressions of the Body of Christ—Rom. 12:4-5; 16:1. (2012 ITEROS, msg. 6)
b. The unique Body of Christ is expressed as the local churches—Eph. 4:4; Rev. 1:4, 11. (2012 ITEROS, msg. 6)
c. Every local church is part of the unique, universal Body of Christ, a local expression of the Body—1 Cor. 1:2; 12:27. (2012 ITEROS, msg. 6)
2. If we know the Body in life and in practice, then in our consideration the Body will be first and the local churches will be second—Rom. 12:4-5; 16:1, 4, 16. (2012 ITEROS, msg. 6)
II. The elders and the leading ones should see the Body, know the Body, care for the Body, honor the Body, and keep every principle of the Body of Christ, for the full expression of Christ—1 Cor. 12:4-5, 12-13; Eph. 1:22-23; 3:18-19; 4:1-6: (2012 ITEROS, msg. 6; 2006 ST, msg. 10)
A. The Body is one—Rom. 12:4-5: (2012 ITEROS, msg. 6)
1. The Body can exist and survive only in oneness—Eph. 4:3-4. (2012 ITEROS, msg. 6)
2. The oneness of the Body is the oneness of the Divine Trinity—John 17:21, 23. (2012 ITEROS, msg. 6)
3. The keeping of the oneness is the primary virtue of our Christian walk—Eph. 4:1-3. (2012 ITEROS, msg. 6)
B. The Body of Christ is Christ; thus, if we would be in the Body, we must be made Christ—1 Cor. 12:12; Col. 3:10-11: (2012 ITEROS, msg. 6)
1. The church as the Body of Christ comes out of Christ and is one with Christ—Gen. 2:22-23; Eph. 5:23-32. (2012 ITEROS, msg. 6)
2. There is only one thing in a believer that forms a part of the Body of Christ—Christ—Col. 1:18; 2:19; 3:4, 10-11, 15. (2012 ITEROS, msg. 6)
3. The Body is the corporate Christ; Christ and the church are one corporate Christ, the Body-Christ—1 Cor. 12:12. (2012 ITEROS, msg. 6)
C. The function of the Body is to express Christ—Eph. 1:22-23: (2012 ITEROS, msg. 6)
1. The universally great Christ needs a Body to be His fullness, His expression—vv. 22-23. (2012 ITEROS, msg. 6)
2. The purpose of the believers being members one of another in the Body of Christ is that we would live Christ and express Him together—Rom. 12:5. (2012 ITEROS, msg. 6)
D. The work of the cross consummates with the Body and ushers us into the Body—Eph. 2:16: (2012 ITEROS, msg. 6)
1. The cross leads us to the Body and operates in the sphere of the Body. (2012 ITEROS, msg. 6)
2. The self is the enemy of the Body; only when our self has been utterly dealt with by the cross are we able to touch the life of the Body and come to know the Body—Matt. 16:24-25; Rom. 8:13; 12:4-5. (2012 ITEROS, msg. 6)
E. In the Body only Christ is the Head—Col. 1:18; 2:19; Eph. 1:22; 4:15: (2012 ITEROS, msg. 6)
1. For Christ to be the Head means that only He has the authority in the Body—Col. 1:18; 2:19. (2012 ITEROS, msg. 6)
2. Whatever we think, feel, and do must be under the authority of the Head. (2012 ITEROS, msg. 6)
F. The divine fellowship is the reality of living in the Body of Christ—1 Cor. 1:9; 12:13, 27: (2012 ITEROS, msg. 6)
1. The divine fellowship is the flow of the divine life among and through all the members of the Body; the Body in a practical way is in the fellowship—1 John 1:3; Rev. 22:1. (2012 ITEROS, msg. 6)
2. Fellowship tempers us, adjusts us, harmonizes us, and mingles us—1 Cor.12:24. (2012 ITEROS, msg. 6)
III. We should always consider the Body, care for the Body, honor the Body, and do what is best for the Body—vv. 23-27: (2012 ITEROS, msg. 6)
A. Whenever we do something, we must have a proper consideration for the Body and care for how the Body would feel about what we are doing. (2012 ITEROS, msg. 6)
B. We should be concerned not for our individual profit but for the Body and the building up of the Body—Eph. 4:16; 1 Cor. 12:23-27. (2012 ITEROS, msg. 6)