THE THIRD PART: 24 CRUCIAL LINES IN THE BIBLE
The Body of Christ
Message One
The Body of Christ—
the Goal of the Divine Economy
Scripture Reading: 1 Tim. 1:4; Eph. 1:10, 22-23; 4:4-6; Rom. 8:3; 1:3-4; Acts 10:9-11; Rev. 21:2, 10
I. God's economy is that God became man so that man may become God in life and nature but not in the Godhead to produce the organism of the Triune God, the Body of Christ, which consummates the New Jerusalem—Rom. 8:3; 1:3-4; 12:4-5; Rev. 212:
A. The center of God's economy is Christ, and the goal of God's economy is the Body of Christ—Col. 1:15-19; 2:9, 19.
B. The divine economy is God's eternal plan to dispense Christ into His chosen people to produce, constitute, and build up the organic Body of Christ—Eph. 1:10; 3:8-10; 1 Tim. 1:4.
C. God's aim in His economy is to have a group of human beings who have His life and nature inwardly and His image and likeness outwardly; they are a corporate entity, the Body of Christ, to be one with Him and live Him for His corporate expression—Gen. 1:26; John 3:14; 2 Pet. 1:4; Eph. 4:16.
D. The main contents of the New Testament are that the Triune God has an eternal economy according to His good pleasure to dispense Himself into His chosen and redeemed people to make them the same as He is in life and nature and to make them His duplication that they may express Him—3:9-11, 14-21.
E. The divine economy is God and man becoming one entity, one who is God yet man and man yet God—1 Cor. 6:17; 12:12.
F. The issue of God becoming man and man becoming God is an organism; this organism is the mingling of God and man—the Body of Christ—Eph. 4:4-6; 1:3-14, 19-23.
II. The consummation of the believers' experience of the grace of God in His economy is the church as the Body of Christ—Eph. 1:6-8, 22-23:
A. Grace is the manifestation of the Triune God in His embodiment in three aspects—the Father (the source), the Son (the element), and the Spirit (the application)—1 Cor. 15:10; 2 Cor. 8:9; Heb. 10:29.
B. Grace denotes the contents of God's eternal economy for the producing of the Body of Christ to consummate the New Jerusalem—2 Cor. 13:14; Eph. 4:4-6; Rev. 21:2.
C. What God wants today is that we experience the grace in His economy so that the Divine Trinity may have an organism—John 1:16; 15:1.
D. Every part of the organic Body of Christ is an issue of the grace of God in the economy of God—Rom. 5:21; 12:3-8.
III. The Body of Christ, the church, is four-in-one: the Father, the Son, the Spirit, and the Body—Eph. 4:4-6; 1:23:
A. Ephesians 4:4-6 reveals four persons—one Body, one Spirit, one Lord, and one God and Father—mingled together as one entity to be the organic Body of Christ:
1. With the Body of Christ, the Father is the origin, the Son is the element, and the Spirit is the essence; these three are mingled with the Body.
2. The Father is embodied in the Son, the Son is realized as the Spirit, and They are all in us; therefore, we are a divine-human constitution—3:16-20.
3. Because the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are all one with the Body of Christ, the Triune God and the Body are now four-in-one.
B. The four-in-one organic entity in Ephesians 4:4-6 corresponds with the golden lampstands in Revelation 1:20:
1. In figure, the golden lampstand signifies the church as the embodiment of the Triune God—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit:
a. The lampstand is of pure gold, signifying the divine, eternal, incorruptible nature of God the Father—Exo. 25:31; 2 Pet. 1:4.
b. The solid form, the shape, of the lampstand signifies God the Son as the embodiment of God the Father—Exo. 25:31.
c. The seven lamps signify God the Spirit being the seven Spirits—v.37; Rev. 4:5.
2. The church is the Triune God completely mingled with His redeemed people to become the lampstands to express God—1:20.
IV. The Body of Christ is the fullness of the all-inclusive Christ, the One who fills all in all—Eph. 1:22-23; 4:4-6, 16:
A. The church is the Body, and the Body is the fullness; these two levels of "is" are in succession rather than in parallel—1:22-23; cf. 4:10.
B. The Body is the fullness of the Head, and the fullness is the expression of the Head1:23; Rom. 16:16b; Col. 1:18.
C. The fullness of Christ issues from the enjoyment of the riches of Christ; the fullness of Christ is Christ experienced by us, assimilated by us, and constituted into our being to become our element—Eph. 3:8; 1:23; 4:13.
D. Christ, as the One who fills all in all, needs the Body to be His fullness; this Body is His church to be His expression—1:23; Col. 1:19:
1. Christ, who is the infinite God without any limitation, is so great that He fills all things in all things.
2. Such a great Christ needs the church, His Body, to be His fullness for His complete expression.
V. We need to be universal Christians with a universal view of the universal Body of Christ—Eph. 1:17-23; Acts 10:9-11; Rev. 21:10:
A. "What God is doing today is to obtain the Body of Christ, not merely you as an individual, nor merely the church in a locality, nor merely the church in a country. He wants to obtain the church in the entire universe" (Words of Training for the New Way, vol. 1, p. 57).
B. "It is my desire that you see the light, broaden your view, and realize that we are in God's eternal economy, that you would allow God to have the Body of Christ on the earth" (p. 58).
C. "It is not enough for us merely to have a local view, nor is it enough to have an international view. We must have a universal view. We need to see that Christ is after a Body, and God will prepare a Body for Christ" (p. 58).
Ministry Excerpts:
TAKING CHRIST AS ITS CENTALITY AND UNIVERSALITY
Christ is the centrality and universality of the divine economy (Col. 3:10-11). Actually, God's economy is just Christ. What God desires to have is Christ. Christ is God's good pleasure and His unique goal.
The New Testament shows us this in Ephesians 1 and 3. These chapters speak of God's good pleasure (1:5, 9) and God's eternal purpose, God's heart's desire (3:11). God's good pleasure is Christ. A church without Christ as the centrality and universality is not pleasant to God. God could never be pleased with a church without Christ. God does not want to see merely a group of people meeting and serving together. He wants to see Christ among them, and He is concerned about how much Christ is among them. How much God would be pleased with us depends upon how much Christ we have. Everything we do must be in Christ, with Christ, by Christ, through Christ, and to Christ.
Christianity's gospel preaching is for soul winning, but our gospel preaching is the practice of the New Testament gospel priesthood for saving sinners to make them members of Christ, parts of Christ. Then we offer these parts of Christ as an offering to God (Rom. 15:16). In the Old Testament the sacrifices that the priests offered were all types of Christ. Today in the New Testament economy we offer the members of Christ. In other words, we offer the Body of Christ. To preach the gospel merely to win souls is not adequate. We preach the gospel to make sinners the living members of Christ to constitute Christ's Body so that we can offer them to God for the constitution of Christ's Body.
As priests of the gospel, we need to visit people in a regular way to bring the gospel to them. D. L. Moody once made a decision that he would preach the gospel to at least one person a day. One night he went to bed, and he realized that he had not preached the gospel to anyone that day. He went out into the street, and the only one he saw was a policeman. He went to that policeman and exhorted him to believe in the Lord Jesus. Then Moody hurried home. Later, the policeman wanted to know who this person was who spoke to him about believing in the Lord. The policeman found out that this person was D. L. Moody. Then he went to see D. L. Moody, and he was saved. This shows us that we should fulfill our duty as priests of the gospel to regularly visit people so that we can make them the members of Christ for the increase and building up of the Body of Christ.
Making Christ Preeminent in All Things
God's economy also makes Christ preeminent in all things (Col. 1:15-19). To have the preeminence is to have the first place.
In the Godhead
Christ, in the whole universe, is the first. He is even the first in the Godhead (v. 15a). The Godhead has three—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. Of the three, the Son is the center. The embodiment of the Triune God is Christ, the Son, so He is the center. Colossians 1:18b says that Christ has the first place, the preeminence, in everything. He is the image of the Triune God. If you have the image, you have the person. This shows us that Christ is the very center of the Divine Trinity. He is both the image and the embodiment of the Triune God.
Christ, the preeminent One, is a living, organic person, and the Body of Christ is an organism, not an organization. A wooden stand is an organization of pieces of wood, but a living person is an organism. The church is not mechanical. It is not a robot. The church is an organism. If we want the church to be living, we should not come to the meetings and sit in our chair the entire time to merely listen to others. That makes us mechanical, not organic. We need to exercise our spirit to sing to the Lord, praise the Lord, and speak for the Lord. When we say Amen, we should say it in a living way with the exercise of our spirit. Not only prophesying needs our practice; even saying Amen needs our practice.
Sometimes the best part of the Lord's table is when everyone makes a "noise" to the Lord. If we are always so orderly and organized in what we do, our meeting might be like a cemetery. In a cemetery there is no noise, and everything is very orderly. But the church is living, so the church has to make a joyful noise to the Lord (Psa. 98:4, 6; 100:1). If we do not exercise our spirit in the church meetings, we will die. Exercise is the secret of being healthy. In the church meetings we should be living and active in the Spirit. In this way Christ will have the preeminence in our meetings.
In the Creation
Christ also has the preeminence, the first place, in the creation (Col. 1:15b-17). He is the Firstborn of all creation, the One who has preeminence among all the creatures.
In the Resurrection for the New Creation,
the Church, the Body of Christ
Christ is also preeminent in the resurrection for the new creation, the church, the Body of Christ (v. 18). In the old creation, He is the Firstborn. In the new creation, in resurrection, in the Body of Christ, He is also the Firstborn. Christ is the first in resurrection as the Head of the Body. As such, He has the first place in the church, God's new creation (2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 6:15).
In the Fullness of the Godhead
Christ also has the preeminence in the fullness of the Godhead. Colossians 1:19 says that "in Him all the fullness was pleased to dwell." Actually, the fullness in this verse is Christ Himself. Christ is the center, Christ is the embodiment, Christ is the image, and Christ is the fullness. Thus, in every way, in every aspect, and in everything, Christ must have the first place, the preeminence. In the church life everything must be for giving Him the preeminence, the first place. (CWWL, 1991-1992, vol. 3, "The Satanic Chaos in the Old Creation and the Divine Economy for the New Creation," msg. 4)
Participating in the Fullness of the Godhead
to Become God's Expression
As God the Father's beloved Son, Christ is the embodiment and expression of the Triune God for us to participate in the fullness of the Godhead to become God's expression. John 1:16 says, "Of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace." This indicates that in the beloved Son we participate in the fullness of the Godhead. This fullness is unlimited. The more we experience and enjoy this fullness, the more we realize that it is unlimited. As we participate in the fullness of the Godhead, we become the fullness of the Triune God, which is the expression of the processed Triune God. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 266)
The Purpose to Produce the Church,
the Body of Christ
God's economy takes Christ as its centrality and universality, makes Christ preeminent in all things, and also produces the church to be the Body of Christ, the house of God, and the kingdom of God, consummating in the holy city, the New Jerusalem. Whatever we do in the God-ordained way is for Christ to produce the church. We are here living a church life to take Christ as the center and to make Christ the preeminent One for the purpose of producing the church, the Body of Christ.
THE BODY OF CHRIST
The Fullness of Him Who Fills All in All,
to Be His Expression
The Body of Christ is the fullness of Christ as the One who fills all in all to be His expression (Eph. 1:22-23). Christ is immeasurably full, vast, and great. Ephesians 3:18 speaks of our apprehending the universal dimensions of Christ—the breadth and length and height and depth. How broad, how long, how high, and how deep is the universe? The breadth, the length, the height, and the depth are the immeasurable dimensions of the universe, and these dimensions are the dimensions of Christ. Because Christ is so vast, He needs the Body of Christ as His fullness, His expression.
We need to be those who live Christ and magnify Christ for His expression. If Christ is not full in us, we cannot express Him. We can illustrate this by the amount of water in a cup. If the cup is not full of water, no one can see the water. Thus, the water is hidden, concealed, not expressed. When the cup is filled with water to the extent that it is overflowing, this overflow of water is the expression. When the cup is overflowing with water, everyone sees the expression. Nobody knows that we have Christ in us, so we need to be overflowing with Christ.
We overflow with Christ by speaking Christ. When we overflow, Christ flows. This overflow is Christ's expression, and this expression is the fullness. The Bible does not tell us to come to the meetings to be quiet. This is the practice of degraded Christianity. The architecture of the cathedrals and many denominational meeting places, with their stained-glass windows that do not let in much light and their high ceilings, promotes people's silence. Our meeting places are not like this. Our meetings should not be full of silence but full of the divine speaking for the exhibition of Christ, the expression of Christ.
An Organism Constituted with His Members
The Body of Christ is an organism constituted with His members (Rom. 12:5). As the members of the Body of Christ, we are the living parts of Christ. (CWWL, 1991-1992, vol. 3, "The Satanic Chaos in the Old Creation and the Divine Economy for the New Creation," msg. 4)
The True Vine, as a Portrait of Christ,
Being an Organism by which the Triune God
Accomplishes His Eternal Economy
The true vine in John 15, as a portrait of Christ, is the organism of the Triune God by which He accomplishes His eternal economy. This true vine is the organism in the eternal economy of the Triune God. The Lord Jesus is the tree. We are the branches. When we are joined to and mingled with Him, we become the organism of the Triune God. The Triune God is operating and working in this true vine today. Hence, we should not despise ourselves, for we are the Body of Christ. We have a part in the true vine that the Triune God is cultivating. This is a tremendous thing. Today amidst the fallen and desolate Christianity, we are the center of the organism of the Triune God. This is our source. We should never forget or neglect this. The Lord's recovery is carrying out the mingling of the Triune God with this organism so that He can live, operate, and work here for the wheel of His economy to be turned. (CWWL, 1990, vol. 2, "The Mysteries in God's New Testament Economy," msg. 3)
Being Built Up
With the Unsearchable Riches of Christ
The Body of Christ needs to be built up with the unsearchable riches of Christ through the divine dispensing (2, Eph. 3:8-11). This is the stress, the emphasis, of the Bible.
By the Gifted Members and by Each One Part
The Body of Christ is built up through the divine dispensing by the gifted members as the joints of the rich supply and by each one part operating in its measure (Eph. 4:16). The gifted members must be active, living members. They dispense the rich supply, which is the supply of Christ. Each one part also needs to operate in its measure. We may feel that we are not the gifted members, so we are not needed. But all of us are parts of the Body, and we need to operate according to our measure. We should not merely function; we must function in fullness.
Through the Growth in Life of the Body
The Body of Christ is also built up through the growth in life of the Body, holding Christ as its Head (vv. 15-16). Through the growth in life the church is built. To build anything we first need the material. The material for the building of the church is the riches of Christ. In order to build, we also need the skill. In the church we need "smiths," that is, skilled people. Gifted persons are "smiths," and the operating parts are small "smiths." We also need a way to be built up, and the way is to grow. If we do not grow, there is no church building. The church building is constituted with the riches of Christ, by the gifted persons and the operating parts, and through the growth in life of all the saints.
For Christ to Head Up All Things in Himself
Eventually, such a built-up church is for Christ to head up all things in the universe in Himself (1:10).
The House of God
Being Composed of the Many Sons of God
as the Many Brothers of Christ,
the Firstborn Son of God
The church is also the house of God (1 Tim. 3:15-16). The house of God is composed of the many sons of God as the many brothers of Christ, the firstborn Son of God (Rom. 8:29; Heb. 2:10-12). We are the Body with Christ as the Head. We are also a house with Christ as the firstborn Son among many sons, His many brothers.
The Pillar and Base of the Truth
The church as the house of God is also the pillar and base of the truth. As the pillar, the church supports the truth, and as the base, the church holds the truth. The truth is the Triune God with Christ as the embodiment, as the center, and as the image to produce the church to be the organism as Christ's Body, as God's home, and as God's kingdom. Anything else is not the truth, and to teach anything else is to teach differently. Doctrines such as head covering, foot-washing, and methods of baptism are doctrines but are not the truth that we need to teach. The truth is just one thing—the Triune God, having Christ as the center, the embodiment, the image, and the expression, to produce the church as the Body of Christ, the house of God, and the kingdom of God. We are one in this truth. We are not one in the different small points in the Bible.
The Manifestation of God in the Flesh—
the Great Mystery of Godliness
The church as the pillar and base of the truth is the manifestation of God in the flesh, and this is the great mystery of godliness (1 Tim. 3:15-16). The church is the continuation of Christ as the manifestation of God in the flesh.
The Kingdom of God
The church is also the kingdom of God (Matt. 16:18-19; Rom. 14:17). The kingdom of God is for the divine administration to express the divine authority (Heb. 1:8). We should be people under authority, and among us there should be the divine administration. Romans 14:17 says that today the church life is the kingdom of God.
Consummating in the Holy City, the New Jerusalem
Eventually, the church as the Body of Christ, the house of God, and the kingdom of God will consummate in the holy city, the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21—22). Revelation 21:2 says that the holy city, New Jerusalem, will come down out of heaven from God. First, the New Jerusalem will be in the heavens in the thousand-year kingdom. The overcomers will be there as the co-kings of Christ in the heavenly part of the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens. After the thousand-year kingdom, all the saints will be matured and will be included in the New Jerusalem. Then the New Jerusalem will come down out of heaven. Our dwelling place for eternity will be the New Jerusalem on the new earth. We are in the church as the Body of Christ, the house of God, and the kingdom of God, and we are on our way to becoming the new city, the New Jerusalem. (CWWL, 1991-1992, vol. 3, "The Satanic Chaos in the Old Creation and the Divine Economy for the New Creation," msg. 4)
The Fullness of Christ
Verse 23 says that the Body is "the fullness of the One Who fills all in all." The Body of Christ is His fullness. The fullness of Christ issues from the enjoyment of the riches of Christ (3:8). Through the enjoyment of Christ's riches, we become His fullness to express Him.
This is the fullness of the One who fills all in all. Christ, who is the infinite God without limitation, is so great that He fills all things in all things. Such a great Christ needs the church to be His fullness for His complete expression.
It is in the transmission that the Body of Christ is the fullness of the One who fills all in all, because the Christ who fills all in all is in the transmission. The transmission connects us to the all-filling Christ. In this way the church becomes the fullness of the all-filling Christ.
Enjoying the Riches of Christ
and Having the Proper Church Life
We should not take this as a mere teaching, but put it into practice. If you practice this, you will enjoy the riches of Christ every time you read the Word of God. By means of the transmission, the Bible becomes another book. Oh, how unsearchable are the riches of Christ! In the transmission the unsearchable riches of Christ become our enjoyment. As these riches become our enjoyment, they also become the constituents of our spiritual being. This produces the Body as the fullness of the Christ who fills all in all.
The transmission connects us with the ascended Christ. In this transmission we enjoy Christ according to what is recorded in the Bible. Whatever we read in the Bible becomes real to us through the transmission. In this way the riches of Christ become our enjoyment.
I love two particular phrases found in Ephesians 1: "toward us who believe," and, "to the church." The divine power has been installed into us once for all, but it is continually being transmitted into us. In this transmission we enjoy Christ and have the proper church life.
By enjoying the transmission we have a foretaste of the rapture. Sometimes as I enjoy the divine transmission, I am in such an ecstasy that I want to leap for joy. The enjoyment is so marvelous that it seems I have already been raptured. Sometimes I hardly dare read the Bible because the riches of Christ revealed in it are so vast and immeasurable. I am beside myself with this rich enjoyment. By means of such a transmission, we are the Body, the fullness of the One who fills all in all. (Life-Study of Ephesians, msg. 18)
BEING A UNIVERSAL CHRISTIAN
Formerly, you could be a Christian in a locality with your door closed and not be bothered with the brothers and sisters in other places. Today, however, for you to be a Christian, it is not sufficient to be a national Christian, nor even an international Christian; you need to be a universal Christian.
Three years ago when I came back to Taiwan to change the system, I had no intention of letting the American brothers know what I was doing. I told them to allow me first to go back to Taiwan, and that whatever I did there, they would gradually find out. But they followed right behind and came all the way to Taiwan. Some even volunteered to come to serve, to help in such things as digging the tunnel, plastering walls, and working in the kitchen. I had never thought so many brothers and sisters would come, nor that there would be so many intermarriages between Chinese and Americans, as well as between Chinese and Japanese. From a human viewpoint, I did not like it because I felt some were married too quickly. However, on the other hand, I thought that this may be the Lord's will for the purpose of mingling everyone together. First Corinthians 12:18 says, "But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, even as He willed." Right now we are all placed here. Also, verse 24 says, "God has tempered the body together." Not only did God place us together, but He also tempered us together. All that God has done is for obtaining a Body.
Broadening Our View
When we look back to see the two thousand years of history, we feel that it is very meaningful. Before the Lord Jesus was born, God caused the Roman Empire to be raised up so that many of the prophecies in the Bible could be fulfilled. Both the Lord's birth and His death were related to the raising up of the Roman Empire. If there had been no Roman Empire, the Lord would not have been born in Bethlehem and yet have grown up in Nazareth. If the Lord had not been born during the age of the Roman Empire, He would not have been crucified, because the Jewish people did not have this kind of death sentence. Not only so, God also connected all the regions around the Mediterranean Sea together through the Roman Empire repairing the highway from Rome to Palestine. There was also the aspect of language, in that Greek became the common written and spoken language. It was after all these things were prepared that Paul came out to preach the gospel.
When Paul came out to preach the gospel, he was not in Judea. Rather, he traveled around the Mediterranean Sea with a broad view. This was why in his Epistles he said that in this new man, "There cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, freeman, but Christ is all and in all" (Col. 3:11). In those days, there were these problems among different groups of people. But in the new man, these differences do not exist. In the new man, everything is Christ.
Today, after two thousand years, God has brought this world to a blended stage so that there are almost no distinctions between East and West. Taiwan has large quantities of goods made in the United States, and the United States also has large quantities of goods made in Taiwan. Both the East and West are blended together. Today, if you want to be a Christian, you cannot be merely a Chinese Christian. Even the more, especially today in taking the way of the recovery, we cannot be like that. We must broaden our view. Today the Lord desires to have His Body. It does not matter whether you are willing or not; He simply likes to group all of us together. Therefore, we all have to see that the former era has already passed. From now on, the broader our view, the better.
Practicing to Mingle with Others
Since we have seen the vision of the Body of Christ, we need to have our practice according to this vision. We need to start practicing in small areas by first mingling with the brothers and sisters next to us. I can testify to you that I love brothers and sisters of every kind. I love those who are quick, and I also love those who are slow. I love those who are compatible with me; and I love even the more those who are not compatible with me. In these days we are translating the Chinese Recovery Version of the New Testament. Although I am more than eighty years old, I am a quick-tempered and aggressive person. Nearly all my helpers are around thirty years of age. From my viewpoint, every one of them is slow-motioned, making it necessary for me to pull them along. I do not like their slowness. It seems that many times I should have been upset, but I could not be. I said to myself, "These people are all slow-motioned. To press them to be as fast as you is an impossible task. You have to accommodate them." Therefore I am learning to be slower, accompanying them to read slowly. This does not mean that I have been affected by them. This is mingling.
The experience of those on the gospel teams is the same in principle. Some are quick-tempered, and some are slow-motioned. A slow one says, "Please wait for me. I have forgotten my small notebook." After a while he says again, "I have forgotten my Life Lessons." This really becomes unbearable to the quick-tempered ones. Some simply want to be quick. Only being quick can satisfy them. Eventually the quick ones end up together. Then the slow ones do not approve of the quick ones and consider that their flesh is not yet dealt with, that they are unable to bear with others or wait for others. Hence, the slow ones also end up together. Actually, to be either quick or slow is inborn; it is not up to you.
When I was a student, I was a member of the school soccer team. Some students who were very skillful liked to show off their skills when they got the ball. They dribbled the ball back and forth, not shooting for the goal right away. I was angry when I saw that because I was not there to play with the ball, but to shoot for the goal and score. Once I got the ball, I quickly kicked it into the goal. It is the same in the Lord's work today. Some very capable co-workers, once the ball of the work gets into their hands, begin playing with the ball. They do not care for the edification of the believers, nor for people's salvation. They only care to do the things that interest them. Some people feel that Bible study is very enjoyable. They start doing that and forget about the work. Some do not care for Bible studies; as long as they can get people saved, everything will be all right. There is definitely such a situation among us. Our inborn temperaments and characters are simply not the same. There are a few hundred people here, yet no two faces are the same. Even with twins, there are still differences. Our God is really capable. He created each one with a different face, and He gave a different appearance to each one.
The Better the Mingling,
the More the Blessing
What God is doing today is to obtain the Body of Christ, not merely you as an individual, nor merely the church in a locality, nor merely the church in a country. He wants to obtain the church in the entire universe. Since this is the case, in our church life today we need to be mingled with all the brothers and sisters on the earth. The more successful the mingling, the better it is. Whoever cannot be mingled with others will eventually be disqualified by the age. In today's age, you cannot be an isolated Christian.
I have to congratulate all of you who came to the training center because it is impossible for you to get so much mingling in any other place. I wish that each one of you could come to stay in the training center for one hundred twenty days and be burned by the fire of the training center. If you do not have the grace, the light, or this vision of the Body, then the training center is a place of suffering to you. However, if you have the vision, then the training center is not only a place for training you, but also a place for perfecting you.
Allowing God to Have the Body of Christ
I hope that you can understand, receive, and at the same time, broaden your view. I am not exhorting you to be patient, to condescend, to humble yourself, or to love others as yourself. Those things are trite expressions. Rather, it is my desire that you see the light, broaden your view, and realize that we are in God's eternal economy, that you would allow God to have the Body of Christ on the earth. From now on, not only are we who are in Taipei in one accord, but the entire recovery of the Lord in the whole universe is also one. We are the one Body of Christ. Concerning this point, I have had very clear light all along. In the past three years in Taiwan, I also have gained a considerable amount of experience and realization. In these three years, the Lord has definitely done something in our midst that has broadened us. Everyone's view has been broadened. It is not enough for us merely to have a local view, nor is it enough to have an international view. We must have a universal view. We need to see that Christ is after a Body, and God will prepare a Body for Christ. (CWWL, 1987, vol. 2, "Words of Training for the New Way, vol. 1", msg. 5)