Int’l Training for Elders and Responsible Ones (Fall 2013)
Entering Into the Fourth Stage of the Experience of Life
to Arrive at a Full-Grown Man for the Fulfillment of God’s Purpose
Message Two
The Fourth Stage of the Experience of Life (1)
Knowing the Body
Scripture Reading:
Rom. 12:5; 1 Cor. 12:12; Eph. 1:22-23; 2:16; 4:4, 12, 16;5:30; Col. 1:18, 24; 2:19
Outline
Day1
I.
In order to know the Body, we have to deal with and renounce the self,
which is the enemy of the Body—Matt.16:18, 21-26; Luke 9:23-25:
A.
The self is the fallen soul declaring independence from God and,thus,
independence from the Body; the greatest problem, the
greatestfrustration and opposition, to the Body is the self.
Day2
B.
The shaving of the hair of the leper for his cleansing in Leviticus 14
signifies dealing with the difficulties of the self; the razor signifies
thecross—v. 9:
1. The
hair of the head signifies the glory of man; everyone has his boasts in
certain areas—some boast of their ancestry, some of their education,
some of their virtues, some of their zeal in their love for the Lord;
almost everyone can find an area in which to boast, to glorify himself,
and to make a display before man.
2.
The beard signifies the honor of man; people esteem themselves
honorable with regard to their position, their family background, or
even their spirituality; they always have a superior feeling that they
are above others.
3. The
eyebrows signify the beauty of man; everyone has naturally good and
strong points, which did not issue from the experience of God’s
salvation but from natural birth.
4.
The hair of the whole body signifies the natural strength of man; we
are full of natural strength, natural methods and opinions, thinking
that we can do this or that for the Lord and that we are capable of
doing all things.
5. When
all the aspects of the self are dealt with through the “razor” of the
cross, and when we have nothing and are nothing, we shall be clean—cf.
Phil. 3:7-11.
6. We should
utterly reject the self by doing everything through the cross and by
the Spirit to dispense Christ into one another for the sake of the Body
of Christ.
Day3
II. In order to know the Body, we must see the vision of the Body—Eph. 1:17; 3:3-6:
A.
When the Lord appeared to Saul on the way to Damascus, He showed him
that persecuting the believers was the same as persecuting Him—Acts
9:3-5:
1. The Lord asked,
“Why are you persecuting Me?” He did not ask,“Why are you persecuting
those who believe in Me?” When Saul asked, “Who are You, Lord?” the Lord
said, “I am Jesus, whom you persecute”—vv. 4-5.
2.
The “Me” here is a corporate “Me,” comprising Jesus the Lord and all
His believers; by this, Saul began to see that the Lord Jesus and His
believers are one great person—the wonderful “Me.”
3.
The Lord showed Saul that he was persecuting the Head when he was
persecuting the members of the Body; every sin that offends the Body
offends the Head.
4. The
day that the Lord revealed Himself to Saul was the day that he saw the
Body—Rom. 12:5; 1 Cor. 12:12; Eph. 1:22-23; 2:16; 4:4, 12, 16; 5:30;
Col. 1:18, 24; 2:19.
B.
After such a high revelation the Lord did not speak to Saul directly
but charged him to go into the city, and there it would be told to him
what he must do (Acts 9:6); this was also a revelation of the Body:
1.
The Lord committed Saul to the Body through a member of His
Body—Ananias—so that Saul would be initiated into the identification
with the Body of Christ.
2.
This must have impressed Saul with the importance of the Body of
Christ, helping him to realize that a saved believer needs the members
of the Body of Christ.
3.
The Lord sent a small disciple to lay hands on Saul, and this disciple
said, “Saul, brother” (v. 17); this ushered Saul into the Body of
Christ, filled him with the Holy Spirit, and brought him under the
anointing.
Day4
C.
In the New Testament there are two ways to look at Christ; on the one
hand, He is Jesus Christ the Nazarene—the individual Christ; on the
other hand, He is Christ plus the church—the corporate Christ—1 Cor.
12:12.
D. We do not need
knowledge; rather, we need revelation to know the Body of Christ and to
enter into the realm of the Body; only a revelation from God will usher
us into the realm of the Body, and only then will the Body of Christ
become our experience.
E.
Once a man sees the Body of Christ, he is free from individualism; he
will no longer live for himself but for the Body; he becomes
Body-conscious and Body-centered and is freed from being
self-centered—Rom. 12:5.
F.
Everything depends on our seeing; those who see that they are members
will surely treasure the Body and honor the other members—Phil. 2:3-4.
G. If we truly see our position in the Body, it will be as though we were saved a second time—cf. John 1:49-51.
Day5
III. In order to know the Body, we must be under the
limitation of the Body; as members of the Body, we must
allow ourselves to be limited by the other members, not
going beyond our measure:
A.
God has placed all the members of the Body even as He willed; the Head
sets us in our special place in the Body and points us to our special
function—Rom.12:4-5; 1 Cor. 12:15-21:
1.
Each one of us members has our own place in the Body of Christ; it is
assigned by God and should be accepted by us; since such an assignment
is according to God’s will, every member is necessary—vv. 19-22.
2.
Every member has a definite place, a definite assignment, and a
particular portion with which he serves the Body of Christ; each member
has his own characteristics, and each has his own capability; these
characteristics constitute the place, position, or ministry of each
member—Rom. 12:4-8.
B. A
basic requirement for the growth and development of the Body is that we
recognize our measure and do not go beyond it—Eph. 4:7, 16:
1.
We must be willing to be limited by our measure; as soon as we go
beyond our measure, we go beyond the authority of the Head and move out
from under the anointing—Rom. 12:3, 6.
2.
When we go beyond our measure, we interfere with the order of the Body;
to think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think, without a
sober mind, is to annul the proper order of the Body life—v. 3.
Day6
C.
Like Paul, we should move and act according to how much God has
measured to us, staying within the limits of God’s ruling, God’s
measuring—2 Cor. 10:13:
1.
When we give a testimony about our work, experience, or enjoyment of
the Lord, we must testify within measure, that is, within a certain
limit.
2. Although we
expect the work to spread, we must learn how to be under God’s
restriction; we should not expect a spread that is without measure; if
we spread the work according to the Spirit, there will always be a
certain limit—vv. 13-15:
a.
Inwardly, we have the consciousness that the Lord intends to spread the
work only to a certain extent; inwardly, we do not have the peace to
spread the work beyond a certain point—cf. 2:12-14.
b.
Outwardly, in the environment, the Lord may cause certain matters to
restrict the spread of the work; the environment does not allow us to go
beyond a particular boundary line—cf. Rom. 15:24.
3.
In the church service we need to realize that God has measured out only
so much to us, and we should not overstretch ourselves—12:3-4, 6a.
4. Whatever we do should be in the Body, through the Body, and for the Body—cf. Eph. 4:4; Zech. 4:6.
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