Crucial Experiences in the Practice of the Church Life (3) How to Realize the Church Life in a Practical Way in the Reality of the One New Man

Prophecy note, 1 February 2015
“Human pride
always likes to make the self
different from others.
You may speak one thing,
but I would never speak
what you speak
because of my pride.
I want to speak something
different from what you speak,
something new and something better.
This is the self,
and this is fleshly pride”.

In today’s Christianity
there are many mouths,
each speaking a different thing;
this is
the pitiful situation of every preacher
wanting to speak his own thing
and thinking it a shame
to speak what others have spoken.

If in our speaking
we do not take ourselves
as the person
but allow Christ
to be the person,
then
there will be one mouth,
and everyone will speak
the same thing.

There are many right things
to teach.
However,
if we do these things
and teach them
apart from God’s economy,
we are divisive
in right things,
in scriptural things,
not in wrong things,
or heathen things.

Whatever we teach
must be measured by
whether it is
divisive or not.

Only one kind of ministry
builds up
and never divides
—this is
the unique ministry
of God’s economy.

We should be
on the alert and watchful.

We want the teaching
which teaches God’s economy.

The only way
that can preserve us
in the recovery
is the unique ministry.

If we say
that we are in the recovery,
yet we teach something so lightly,
even in a concealed way,
that is different from
God’s economy,
we sow the seed
that will grow up in division.

To teach anything,
even good things
and scriptural things,
which is
even a little bit apart from
God’s New Testament economy
will still issue in division
and that will be very much used
by the subtle one, the evil one.

Therefore, we must be
on the alert.

The only way
that we can be preserved
in the eternal oneness
for the one new man
is to teach the same thing,
the economy of God.

This kind of teaching
is called
the New Testament ministry,
the ministry of the new covenant
which is
only to minister
the Triune God,
to produce members of Christ
to form the Body
to express the Triune God.

Day 5

Rom. 15:6
That with one accord 
you may with one mouth 
glorify the God and Father 
of our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Cor. 1:10
Now I beseech you, brothers, 
through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
that you all speak the same thing 
and that there be no divisions among you, 
but that you be attuned 
in the same mind and in the same opinion.

The church is 
not merely the Body 
but also the one new man.
The Body has Christ 
as life, 
and the new man has Christ 
as a person.
When anyone speaks, 
it is Christ 
who is the person.
The result is 
that there is only one mouth.

How could all Christians 
speak the same thing?
The church is the one new man 
with only one person, 
and this person 
controls our speaking, 
so whatever He speaks 
is surely “the same thing”
that we all speak 
as the new man.

Whenever the brothers and sisters 
are about to speak something, 
they do not take themselves 
as the person; 
instead, 
they allow Christ 
to be the person. 
You let Christ 
be your person 
when you speak, 
and I let Christ 
be my person 
when I speak. 
Eventually, 
everyone speaks 
the same thing.

Consider the Bible. 
The Old and New Testaments 
contain sixty-six books 
written by more than forty different authors 
in many different places 
over a period of fifteen or sixteen hundred years.
The entire Bible 
has one mouth 
and speaks the same thing, 
even though it was written 
over a long period of time 
by many different people 
in many different places.
Although we are many 
and we come from many places, 
all of us have one mouth, 
and we all speak the same thing. 
This is 
because we all 
are the one new man 
having only one person.

In the matter of speaking, 
is the Lord the person, 
or am I the person? 
If it is I, 
there will be a problem; 
if it is the Lord, 
there will be no problem. 
If I allow the Lord 
to be the person, 
He is the One 
who speaks; 
then 
two months later, 
if you allow the Lord 
to be the person, 
you will speak the same thing 
that I have spoken.

In Christianity today 
you see a pitiful condition 
because every preacher 
wants to speak his own thing, 
and he thinks 
it is a shame 
to speak 
what others have spoken.

There is, however, another condition 
in which people 
blindly follow others: 
I speak whatever you speak, 
and you speak whatever I speak. 
In this way 
we make a show to everyone 
that we all have only one mouth 
and that we speak the same thing. 
You must see 
that in neither case 
is the condition right. 
We do not want the condition in Christianity, 
nor do we want a condition of 
blindly following others. 
We want a condition 
in which the one new man speaks. 
There is 
only one new man, 
and this one new man 
has only one person, 
so the one new man 
speaks with one mouth 
and says the same thing.

Only this person 
has the freedom to speak, 
and our natural man 
has absolutely no freedom of speech. 
The Lord has 
the absolute freedom to speak, 
and I absolutely have 
no freedom to speak.

You have to consider 
one mouth in Romans 15:6 
and speak the same thing in 1 Corinthians 1:10 
together with one new man in Ephesians 2:15. 
Otherwise, 
you will never understand 
the first two verses. 
You may wonder 
how the entire church 
can have only one mouth 
and how millions of members 
can speak the same thing.
In a local church, 
there must be 
only one mouth.
In the past 
you had too many mouths 
because you had too many persons.
There are 
no policemen here; 
each of us 
is absolutely free, 
but on the other hand, 
you have absolutely no freedom 
because within you 
there is another person. 
You may be about to speak, 
but something “pinches” you from within, 
telling you 
not to say anything.

Day 3

Eph. 4:1b-2
… Walk worthily of the calling 
with which you were called, 
with all lowliness and meekness, 
with long-suffering, 
bearing one another in love.

Gal. 5:22
But the fruit of the Spirit 
is love, joy, peace, 
long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness.

According to my experience, 
long-suffering 
is related to 
our spoken word. 
In the church 
we must be careful 
concerning our speech and conversation. 
To keep from speaking something 
according to our particular desire 
is a real suffering. 
If we can bear this suffering, 
we can bear any suffering. 
A brother may wrong us, 
but for the Lord’s glory 
and for the sake of the church life, 
we should not speak 
a word about it. 
This is the exercise of long-suffering 
mentioned in Ephesians 4:2. 
If we have not learned this lesson, 
then 
whenever something happens to us, 
we will talk about it. 
If a brother wrongs us, 
we will tell our spouse immediately, 
and then we will use the telephone 
to tell the story to someone else. 
Since we are not able to bear our suffering, 
telling people about it 
puts us at ease. 
To utter, express, and talk about everything 
that happens to us 
requires no long-suffering or patience.

If we see the leading brothers quarreling, 
we may immediately go 
to relate this 
to another brother. 
To do this 
may make us feel very light and at ease, 
and the more we talk in this way, 
the more we enjoy it. 
However, 
if we have learned the lesson, 
for the Lord’s glory 
and for the sake of His church 
we will not say a word. 
Instead, 
we will go to the Lord 
with tears. 
If our dear wife 
comes in and asks 
why we are weeping, 
we will simply say, 
“It is nothing 
to concern you. 
Praise the Lord, Hallelujah!” 
To say, 
“It is nothing” 
is not a lie, 
because in fact 
it is nothing to concern her. 
There is no need 
to say something to others. 
Rather, 
we should have long-suffering. 
If we learn to keep our words 
in such a proper way, 
we will realize 
the true meaning of the word suffering 
in the church life.

On the contrary, 
though, 
we often do not suffer 
because we prefer to speak. 
We like to talk about 
whatever we see 
and whatever happens. 
There is 
no burden or yoke 
to bear 
in this improper practice. 
Immediately after a message is given, 
we may begin to criticize the speaker.
If we have learned the lesson, 
we will say nothing negative 
about the ministry, 
despite what we feel about it, 
for the sake of the practice 
of the church life. 
Our mouths 
will be 
under the control of the Holy Spirit. 
If when we return home, 
our children ask 
what the speaker said, 
we will be careful with our words. 
If we practice this, 
we will suffer 
in a proper way.

Our speech and conversation 
damage the church 
more than anything else.
Word after word 
is passed on by 
telephone calls, letters, and personal contact. 
This builds up nothing 
but instead damages the church.

If we consider our past, 
we will realize 
how much we have been involved 
in this practice of passing on stories, 
unconsciously creating rumors. 
Once a story is secondhand, 
it begins to change, 
and eventually it can become 
a great exaggeration. 
This is 
always the case with rumors. 
In order to learn 
the lesson of long-suffering, 
we need to experience the suffering 
of restricting our mouth 
and stopping our tongue. 
We may see and hear many things, 
but we should not speak a word 
without the anointing and leading 
of the Holy Spirit. 
We must not let the enemy 
use our tongue for his purpose. 
Regardless of what happens to us, 
even if a brother wrongs us, 
we should not say a word. 
If we have learned 
the lesson of long-suffering, 
we will not enjoy 
our improper speaking. 
Instead, 
we will suffer 
by saying nothing.

Either way 
we will have suffering. 
If we do not suffer 
through long-suffering, 
we will suffer 
in a negative way 
by our speaking. 
It is better 
to choose long-suffering. 
Then 
we will be saved from 
the wrong kind of suffering, 
and the church life 
will be kept from damage. 
No one taught us this lesson 
in the way of Bible teaching, 
but by the Lord’s mercy 
we have learned this 
from our experience.

Day 1

Eph. 4:2-3
With all lowliness, 
… being diligent 
to keep the oneness of the Spirit 
in the uniting bond of peace.

1 John 3:14-15
We know 
that we have passed 
out of death into life 
because we love the brothers. 
He who does not love 
abides in death. 
Everyone who hates his brother 
is a murderer, 
and you know 
that no murderer 
has eternal life 
abiding in him.

The first item of the Christian walk 
that is worthy of God’s calling 
is that we must be diligent 
to keep the oneness of the Spirit. 
According to the Greek text, 
to be diligent 
includes the meaning 
of striving and struggling. 
To keep the oneness 
is not an easy matter. 
This oneness 
is already within us, 
so there is no need 
to attain, gain, or receive it. 
What we need today 
is to keep, preserve, and maintain 
what we already have gained. 
For this purpose 
we need to be diligent 
and strive, struggle, and even fight 
to keep, maintain, and preserve the oneness.

Just as the current of electricity 
is the electricity itself, 
the oneness of the Spirit 
is the Spirit Himself. 
At the time we believed in the Lord Jesus, 
this wonderful, inexhaustible Spirit 
came into us 
as the oneness. 
We know this in a practical way 
because we have loved the brothers 
and have wanted to contact them 
since the day 
we believed in the Lord Jesus 
and He came into us.
On the day that I was saved, 
the whole universe changed for me. 
Christians became so dear to me. 
I loved everyone 
who said that he was a Christian, 
and I wanted to be with the believers. 
Sometimes 
when people ask me 
how they can know 
if they are saved, 
I reply, 
“Do you now love the believers?” 
If anyone says 
that he still hates Christians, 
I do not believe 
that he is saved. 
At first 
I thought 
this was my own concept, 
but then 
I read 1 John 3:14-15, 
which indicates 
that the love for the brothers 
is a proof 
that we have eternal life within us.

The genuine oneness 
is the very Spirit 
who is within us. 
Every real Christian 
has this oneness, 
which is nothing less than 
the living Lord Himself 
as the wonderful, all-inclusive life-giving Spirit 
who is within us. 
Now 
what we need today 
is not to receive or gain this oneness 
but to endeavor, strive, and struggle 
to keep, maintain, and preserve the oneness.

Five phrases in Ephesians 4:1-3 
give us the practical way 
to keep the oneness: 
lowliness, 
meekness, 
long-suffering, 
bearing one another in love, 
and the uniting bond of peace. 
We should not quickly think 
that we know 
what all these terms mean. 
We may know 
the meaning of these phrases 
from the dictionary, 
but we may not know their reality.
According to my experience 
and learning in the past, 
these five items 
are a test to us 
in the practice of the church life. 
By this test 
we can see 
whether or not 
we are practically in the church life.

First, 
we should never set up 
a high standard for others. 
To not set up a standard 
is the real practice of lowliness.
As long as we take something 
other than Christ
as our standard, 
we do not have lowliness. 
If we put forth a high standard, 
we are not lowly 
in our mind and attitude.

Neither the subjective experience of the cross, 
the resurrection life of Christ, 
the gift of speaking in tongues, 
healing, 
or mission work 
is our standard. 
To have a mission work 
is not wrong. 
Likewise, 
to speak in tongues, 
to have healing, 
to preach the cross, 
to have the resurrection life, 
and to practice holiness 
are not wrong. 
What is wrong 
is to make these 
a standard. 
Regardless of 
how good, heavenly, or spiritual 
something is, 
as long as it is something 
other than Christ Himself, 
it will cause division.
We should not even claim 
that Christ is our standard 
in a divisive way.

If we do not set up a standard, 
we will have true lowliness.
We will love 
the weaker ones, 
the younger ones, 
and the backsliding ones 
because the Lord loves them. 
According to the four Gospels, 
when the Lord was on this earth, 
He showed more love 
to the sinners and tax collectors 
than He did 
to the good ones. 
This was 
true lowliness and humility.